DAVID THOMPSON'S
NARRATIVE
Originally Published as
Champlain Society Publication XII
A Facsimile Edition by
GREENWOOD PRESS, PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK 1968
First Greenwood reprinting, 1968
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS catalogue card number: 68-28603
This work has been printed on long-life paper and conforms to the
standards developed under the sponsorship of the Council on Li-
brary Resources.
Originally published as
Champlaign Society Publication XII
Printed in the United States of America
DAVID THOMPSON'S
NARRATIVE
OF HIS EXPLORATIONS IN
WESTERN AMERICA
1784-1812
EDITED BY
J. B. TYRRELL
TORONTO
THE CHAMPLAIN SOCIETY
1916
Copyright of J. B. Tyrrell, 19 15
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE XV
INTRODUCTION xxiii
DAVID THOMPSON'S ITINERARY IN NORTH-WESTERN
AMERICA, 1785-1812 Ixv
PART I
CHAP.
I. JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 3
II. LIFE AT A TRADING POST ON HUDSON'S BAY . 30
III. MUSK RAT COUNTRY 55
IV. NAHATHAWAY INDIANS 78
V. DEER 95
VI. LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS . . . .104
VII. CHEPAWYANS 128
VIII. TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 133
IX. WINTER AT REIN DEER LAKE 154
X. NORTH WEST COMPANY 168
XI. GREAT PLAINS 183
XII. SWAN RIVER COUNTRY 193
XIII. JOURNEY TO MANDANE VILLAGES .... 209
XIV. MANDANES AND THEIR CUSTOMS 225
XV. RETURN JOURNEY TO M^DONELL'S HOUSE ON
MOUSE RIVER 38
vii
7 tj-^Z^
viii CONTENTS
CHAP, PAGE
XVI. JOURNEY DOWN THE STONE INDIAN AND lUP
THE RED RIVER . . . « « « • 243
XVII. LIFE AT CADOTTE'S HOUSE 255
XVIII. DISCOVER THE SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE . 266
XIX. SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE TO LAKE SUPERIOR 273
XX. GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS .... 300
XXL SMALL POX AMONG THE INDIANS
XXII. PLAIN INDIANS
XXI IL PEEAGANS
XXIV. PEEAGANS CONTINUED .
. 318
. 326
• 345
. 358
PART II
I. CROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 375
II. JOURNEY FROM KOOTANAE HOUSE TO RAINY
LAKE HOUSE AND RETURN 385
III. WINTER AT KOOTANAE HOUSE 399
IV. ESTABLISH TRADE RELATIONS WITH THE SALEESH
INDIANS 407
V. JOURNEY FROM SALEESH HOUSE TO RAINY LAKE
HOUSE 426
VI. RETURN JOURNEY TO COLUMBIA BY DEFILES OF
ATHABASCA RIVER 438
VIL JOURNEY FROM CANOE RIVER TO ILTHKOYAPE
FALLS 451
VIII. ILTHKOYAPE INDIANS 467
IX. JOURNEY TO THE PACIFIC FROM ILTHKOYAPE
FALLS , . 472
CONTENTS ix
CHAP. PAGE
X. JOURNEY TO THE PACIFIC CONTINUED . . .489
XI. DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE OF COLUMBIA
RIVER 503
XII. FROM ASTORIA TO SPOKANE HOUSE . . .510
XIII. JOURNEYS AROUND SPOKANE HOUSE . . .531
XIV. FROM SALEESH HOUSE TO MONTREAL . . .546
LIST OF WORKS CITED 561
INDEX 567
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
THOMPSON'S HOUSE AT WILLIAMSTOWN, GLEN-
GARRY CO., ONTARIO Tofacep.Wv
Now owned by Farquhar Robertson, Esq.
THE DALLES OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER IN
FLOOD, AS WHEN THOMPSON PASSED IN 1811.
NEW CANAL IN THE FOREGROUND ... „ xcvi
YORK FACTORY AT THE MOUTH OF HAYES RIVER,
MANITOBA .38
Photograph : J. B. Tyrrell, 1912.
RUINS OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE ON THE
BANKS OF THE SASKATCHEWAN RIVER, AL-
BERTA „ 88
Photograph: J. B. Tyrrell, 1886.
RAPIDS ON WINNIPEG RIVER, MANITOBA . . „ 180
Photograph: J. B. Tyrrell, 1891.
AUTUMN EVENING ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF
LAKE WINNIPEG, MANITOBA ,,182
Photograph : J. B. Tyrrell, 1890.
REMAINS OF CUTHBERT GRANT'S HOUSE IN THE
ASSINIBOINE VALLEY, MANITOBA ... „ 194
Photograph : J. B. Tyrrell, 1890.
RUINS OF KOOTANAE HOUSE, NEAR LAKE WIN-
DERMERE, B.C ,,376
Photograph : H. Riess, 191 2.
KOOTENAY FALLS, MONTANA ,,388
Photograph : T. C. Elliott.
xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
COLUMBIA RIVER, BELOW LAKE WINDER-
MERE, B.C To face p. 408
Photograph : G. M. Dawson, 1883.
BOX CANON, PEND D'OREILLE RIVER, WASHING-
TON. Thompson descended the river to this point . . „ 428
Photograph : Frank Palmer.
GRAND RAPIDS, SASKATCHEWAN RIVER, MANI-
TOBA ,,436
Photograph : J. B. Tyrrell, 1890.
ILTHKOYAPE OR KETTLE FALLS, COLUMBIA
RIVER, WASHINGTON ,,466
Photograph : Frederick Wheeler.
THOMPSON OR RICKEY RAPIDS, COLUMBIA
RIVER, WASHINGTON, FIVE MILES BELOW
KETTLE FALLS ,,472
Photograph : Frank Palmer.
COLUMBIA RIVER, ABOVE THE MOUTH OF SPO-
KANE RIVER, WASHINGTON ,,474
Photograph : Frank Palmer.
COLUMBIA RIVER, ABOVE THE MOUTH OF OKAN-
AGAN RIVER. Thompson's camp, July 5, 181 1 . . „ 480
SITE OF SPOKANE HOUSE, EIGHT MILES NORTH-
WEST OF THE CITY OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON „ 532
Photograph : T. C. Elliott, 191 3.
THOMPSON'S PRAIRIE, MONTANA, ON WHICH
SALEESH HOUSE WAS SITUATED ... „ 542
Photograph : T. C Elliott.
LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS
PART OF THE MAP OF THE WORLD IN COOK'S
THIRD VOYAGE To face p. \x
THOMPSON'S SKETCHES :—
Rocky Mountains east of the Head of the Columbia
river, B.C At end of vol.
Nelson Mountains west of the Head of the Columbia
river, B.C „
Mountains South of Saleesh or Flathead lake, Mon-
tana „
THOMPSON'S MAP OF NORTH-WESTERN AMERICA
In pocket at end of vol.
PREFACE
THE account here published of the explorations of
David Thompson in the western parts of Canada
and the United States was written by Thompson
himself when he was about seventy years old and still in the
full possession of all his faculties, but after the active part of
his life-work was completed and when he had retired to
Montreal in the hope of enjoying his remaining years in
quietude. While he was writing this history of the portion
of his life in which he undoubtedly took the most interest,
he kept his note-books before him, and with their assistance
he retraced the scenes through which he had passed in the
days of his youth and strength. He tells his story with an
accuracy that has rarely been equalled in the case of an old
man who is recounting the experiences of his younger days.
I have carefully compared his narrative with his note-books,
written by him from day to day as he travelled through the
country, and in comparatively few instances were discrep-
ancies found ; where these occur they are indicated in the
notes at the bottom of the pages.
Part n of the Narrative covers in detail the years 1807
to 181 2, which were spent as a partner in the North- West
Company in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia,
and the states of Montana, Idaho, and Washington, while
Part I is a more general account of his life while in the
employ of the Hudson's Bay and North-West Companies
between the years 1784 and 1807, in the country from Lake
Superior and Hudson Bay westward to the Rocky Mountains.
It must be clearly understood, however, that this narrative
XV If
xvi DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
tells but a small part of the work accomplished by Thompson
during those twenty-eight years, being confined to a general
account of his travels and of the people and things encountered
by him. But Thompson, besides being an excellent traveller,
was an exceedingly accurate and methodical surveyor, and his
original note-books are largely occupied with mathematical
records of his surveys and of the astronomical observations
by which he filled out and checked those surveys. At the
same time they include extensive meteorological data and
partial vocabularies of many of the Indian tribes among
whom he dwelt.
The main features of his geographical work are recorded
on the large map reproduced with this volume, but the minor
topographic details, with which his note-books are overflowing,
can only be appreciated by reference to the note-books them-
selves. In the Itinerary, which I have included as a second
part of the Introduction in this volume, a bald statement of
the journeys and surveys accomplished by Thompson has
been given in detail year by year, without any attempt at
recording the incidents of his journeys. A thorough under-
standing of this Itinerary will make his own account more
interesting and intelligible.
The reader will quickly see that Thompson was a man of
great natural ability and strong moral character. His school
education had ceased when he was only fourteen years of age,
but he had been taught to spell and write, for his early hand-
writing is beautifully distinct and regular, and his spelling is
remarkably good for the time and circumstances in which he
lived. In character he was bold and fearless of consequences,
and therefore he early assumed the leadership among his
associates. This was shown when the traders and clerks in
the Hudson's Bay Company, under the jurisdiction of York
Factory, were smarting under the obloquy heaped on them
by Joseph Colen, their Chief, and were afraid to protest
against such treatment until Thompson arrived from the
PREFACE xvii
interior to lead them, although he was probably the youngest
among them.
He was constantly occupied, either mentally or physically.
Inactivity was utteriy repugnant to him, but his activity was
always directed to some definite and useful purpose. He
worked hard to perform his duty as he saw it, and when it
was accomplished he gave the product of his work freely to
others, for there was no trace of self-seeking or vainglory in
his nature.
The second part of Thompson's great life-work was
performed when, as Astronomer to the International Boundary
Commission under the Treaty of Ghent, he surveyed the
boundary line between British North America (Canada) and
the United States from St. Regis, Quebec, where the 45th
parallel of latitude strikes the St. Lawrence river, to the
north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods. This task was
accomplished between 181 6 and 1826, and is not dealt with in
this volume.
The Narrative is here printed just as it was written by
Thompson himself, except that for the convenience of the
reader the liberty has been taken of altering the punctua-
tion slightly and of introducing some capital letters. In the
manuscript as received by me, several of the chapters of
Part I had been written twice in somewhat different form,
and in each case the one that appeared to have most merit
has been printed. However, only one set of Contents was
prepared by Thompson for these chapters, and in the case
of Chapter XX it has been necessary to use the contents
of the chapter that has not been printed for the one that
has been printed.
This narrative remained in Thompson's hands until his
death in 1857, after which it passed to one of his sons, who
sold it to the late Mr. Charles Lindsey of Toronto. Mr.
Lindsey intended to edit it, and made a partial use of it in
preparing an account of the " Extent of Country which the
xviii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
North-West Company occupied " in his Investigation of the
Unsettled Boundaries of Ontario (pp. 225-45), but he found
himself constantly hampered by a want of personal knowledge
of the country described, and finally he decided not to proceed
with the pubhcation of the book.
My interest in Thompson's work began in 1883 and the
following years, when, as a Geologist on the staff of the
Geological Survey of Canada, I was travelling in or near the
Rocky Mountains, and was making maps on which to record
my geological investigations. In conducting these surveys
the number of places with names of unknown origin, and the
accuracy of the main features of the maps then in use, greatly
impressed me. In searching for the sources of this geo-
graphical information the late Mr. Andrew Russell, Assistant
Commissioner of Crown Lands for the province of Ontario,
advised me of the existence of Thompson's map and note-
books in the possession of the Crown Lands Department of the
province of Ontario. After making such examination of these
note-books as was then possible, at which time, however,
I was unable to find Volume XI, which contains many of the
notes of his surveys west of the Rocky Mountains, and
especially of his journeys to the mouth of the Columbia
river, I published a Brief Narrative of the Journeys of David
Thompson in the Proceedings of the Canadian Institute,
Toronto, 3rd section, vol. vi, 1887-88, pp. 135-60.
After the publication of this paper, Mr. Charles Lindsey
wrote to me and told me of the existence of the Narrative here
pubHshed, and very kindly offered to allow me to inspect it.
Some years later I purchased it from him. Shortly after
purchasing it, I removed to Dawson in the Yukon Territory,
and it was not until my return to Toronto in 1906 that
it was possible for me to undertake seriously the study of
this journal which had been lying untouched for nearly
ten years.
Between the years 1883 and 1898, while engaged on the
PREFACE xix
staff of the Geological Survey of Canada, it fell to my lot to
carry on explorations in canoes, on horseback, or on foot, over
many of the routes which had been surveyed and explored
by David Thompson a century before, to survey the rivers
that he had surveyed, to measure the portages on which he
had walked, to cross the plains and mountains on the trails
which he had travelled, to camp on his old camping grounds,
and to take astronomical observations on the same places
where he had taken them. Everywhere his work was found
to be of the very highest order, considering the means and
facilities at his disposal, and as my knowledge of his achieve-
ments widened, my admiration for this fur-trading geographer
increased, and in order to show my appreciation of the
splendid work which he did I decided to offer this narrative
to the public. My original intention was to abbreviate, and
partly rewrite it, in the hope of being able to reduce it to
somewhat more popular form, and with that object in view
my wife assisted me until it was almost ready for the printer.
Just at this time, however, the Council of the Champlain
Society learned of its existence, and offered to publish it in
its original form, and also to take the burden of reading and
revising proofs, preparing index, etc., off my hands. This
offer was accepted, and the present volume, with its wealth of
new information about Western America, is issued with the
hope that it may assist in confirming David Thompson in
his rightful place as one of the greatest geographers of the
world.
There is no portrait of Thompson in existence, but Mrs.
Shaw, his daughter, once handed me an old print of John
Bunyan, saying that the picture was as good a likeness of her
father as if it had actually been taken of him.
There is not even a monument marking the last resting-
place of this great geographer. It is not creditable to
Canadians, proud as we are of our country and its limitless
natural possibilities, that this pioneer who did so much
XX DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
without remuneration to render the country known to us
and others should remain neglected. The least that we
could do as a token of our respect for the man and his work
would be to erect a statue to him in some prominent place
in the capital of the Dominion.
In the notes and Introduction, in spelling the names of
Indian tribes, I have followed the Handbook of the Indians of
Canada^ issued by the Commission of Conservation of the
Government of Canada, and in regard to geographic names
of natural features I have followed the decision of the Geo-
graphic Board of Canada, but in speaking of places occupied
by Thompson, and not since known by any other name, I
have used the spelling which he adopted. This will account
for such apparent discrepancies as Kootanae House, the
Kutenai Indians, and Kootenay river.
I wish to express my deep indebtedness to Sir Edmund
Walker, who has given his careful attention to every detail
in connection with the preparation of the book for the press,
and to Mr. W. S. Wallace, one of the editors of the pubUca-
tions of the Champlain Society, who has faithfully carried
out its engagements to me in correcting proofs, preparing
the index, and assisting in the revision of the manuscript of
the Introduction and notes.
While engaged in the preparation of the notes the
government of the province of Ontario, and Dr. Alexander
Fraser, the Provincial Archivist, kindly loaned me Thompson's
original note-books, so that I have been able to examine them
carefully in such spare time as has been at my disposal.
In compiling the notes on the country west of the moun-
tains I have been especially fortunate in securing the assist-
ance of Mr. T. C. ElHott, of Walla WaUa, Washington, U.S.A.,
who is intimately acquainted with the early history of the
north-western states and especially of the Columbia valley.
He was kind enough to visit me in Toronto, where we had
the pleasure of reading over Thompson's original note-books
PREFACE xxi
together. His notes throughout are signed with, his initials,
T. C. E.
Mr. E. A. Preble, of the Biological Survey Department of
Agriculture, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., has very kindly added
notes on the animals and plants mentioned by Thompson,
thus greatly adding to the scientific value of the book. His
notes are signed with his initials, E. A. P.
I am also indebted to Mr. James White, Deputy Head of
the Commission of Conservation for Canada, of Ottawa, for
assistance, advice and notes, and also for permission to pub-
lish Thompson's large map from a tracing which he had had
made, for it was found quite impossible to reproduce the old
faded yellow original by any mechanical process.
I also desire to thank Miss Shaw, Thompson's grand-
daughter. Miss Elsie Day, Messrs. G. R. Ray, A. C. McNab,
J. Meyers, and others for kind assistance in supplying infor-
mation about Thompson or the country through which he
travelled.
J. B. TYRRELL.
Toronto,
April 19, 19 1 5.
INTRODUCTION
DAVID THOMPSON, the author of this hitherto
unpublished manuscript, was born in the parish of
St. John the Evangelist, Westminster, England,
on April 30, 1770, and was baptized on May 20 of the same
year. The parish register gives the names of his parents as
" David Thompson and Ann his wife," though it gives no
information as to their antecedents or the time or place of
their marriage. On subsequent pages of the register, however,
it is recorded that another son, named John, was born to David
Thompson and Ann his wife on January 25, 1772, and was
baptized on February 16 of the same year. The next and
last record that has been discovered about the family is of
the death of David Thompson, doubtless the father, on
February 28, 1772. Opposite his name no burial fee is
entered, a fact which shows that he was buried at the expense
of the parish. Mrs. Shaw, one of Thompson's daughters,
informed the writer that her father's brother John, who was
a sea captain, had once visited her father in Montreal. She
also said that her grandparents came from Wales, and that
their family name was originally Ap-Thomas, but that it had
been changed to Thompson on going to London. In this
connection, it is interesting to notice that late in life the
speech of David Thompson the younger was remarked by an
observer to betray his Welsh origin.^
On April 29, 1777, when just seven years of age, David
Thompson entered the Grey Coat School, Westminster. This
^ J. J. Bigsby, The Shoe and Canoe, London, 1850, vol. i. p. 113.
xxiii
xxiv DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
interesting old school ^ is now, and has been since its re-
organisation by the Endowed Schools Commission in 1873, a
charity school for girls. It may still be seen by the visitor,
some five minutes' walk from Westminster Abbey : an old
red house, built in the Elizabethan manner, covered at the
back with grape-vine and Virginia creeper, and surrounded
by a large garden and playground. But in 1777 it was a
school devoted to the education of poor boys : its " principall
designe " was " to educate poor children in the principles of
piety and virtue, and thereby lay a foundation for a sober
and Christian life." The early training which David
Thompson received within the walls of this school coloured
his whole career, and marked him off in later life from the
dissolute traders and voyageurs a,mong whom his lot was cast.
Some years ago the opportunity of visiting this school
presented itself, and Miss Day, the head mistress, kindly
allowed me the privilege of inspecting the old minute-book
of the meetings of the Board of Governors of the school, in
which are to be found the following entries relating to David
Thompson. Under the date of Tuesday, April 29, 1777, his
admission to the school is recorded :
"Abram Acworth, Esq. was this day pleased to present David
Thompson to be admitted into this Hospi on y^ Foundation and y«
Governors present being satisfy with y^ said child's settlement. Ord^
that he be admitted on bringing in the usual necessaries."
Over six years later, at a quarterly meeting of the Board held
on Tuesday, December 30, 1783, the name of David Thompson
reappears in the minutes :
"The Master also reports that application was made by the Secre-
tary belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, to know, if this Charity
could furnish them with 4 boys against the month of May next, for
their settlements in America. The Master, by order of the Treas"^
' For an account of the school, see a paper entitled An Old Westminster
Endowment, by Miss Elsie Day, in the Journal of Education, September,
1885.
INTRODUCTION
XXV
wrote a letter informing the Governor and Directors that there were
but two boys that had been taught navigation in the school, which
two boys they desire may be qualified for them, viz : Samuel John
M^Pherson and David Thompson."
Samuel John McPherson was evidently averse to being sent
away to America, for he " elop^ from this Hospital on the
7"" Jan'' " following, and as he did not return he was ex-
pelled ; but David Thompson accepted the fate for which
the Governors of the school had destined him. In the
minutes of the quarterly meeting of the Board of Governors
of the school, held on Tuesday, June 29, 1784, his apprentice-
ship to the Hudson's Bay Company is recorded :
" David Thompson
bound to the Secretary
of the Hudson's Bay
Company for seven
years & paid.
On the 20th May David
Thompson, a mathematical Boy
belonging to the Hosp^ was bound
to the Hudson's Bay Company &
the Trea"" then paid M^ Thos.
Hutchins, Corresponding Secretary
to the said Company, the sum of
five pounds for taking the said Boy
appren^e for seven years."
David Thompson was thus a pupil in the Grey Coat
School for seven years (1777-84). During this time his
mathematical master was one Thomas Adams, of whom
nothing further is known, and the sort of teaching which the
poor child received may be judged from the following list of
books, many of them then nearly a hundred years old, from
which he was taught :
WalUs, Mechanics ....
Wallis, A Treatise of Algebra
Thesaurus Geographicus
Leybourn, Dialling ....
Leybourn, Mathematical Institutions
Gordon, Geography Anatomized .
Atkinson, Epitome of the Art of Navigation
Newton, An Idea of Geography
Barlow, A Survey of the Tide
. published
1655
7>
1685
»
1695
»
1682
)?
1704
>»
I716
rt
I7II
■)■>
1708
)>
I717
xxvi DAVID THOMPSON*S NARRATIVE
From such books as these, David Thompson received the
preparation for his hfe-work in surveying the northern forests
and plains of America.
David Thompson sailed from London in May, 1784, in
the Hudson's Bay Company's ship Prince Rupert, and arrived
at Churchill in the beginning of September. Here he took
up his quarters in the new trading establishment that had
just been built on the site which is still occupied by the
trading store of the Hudson's Bay Company ; for Fort Prince
of Wales, the great stone fort five miles away at the mouth
of the river, had been taken and burned by the French two
years before. He spent the winter of 1784-85 under Samuel
Hearne, the traveller who, fifteen years before, had started
from Churchill on foot with a few Indians to discover and
explore a " mine " of copper near the Coppermine river,
and incidentally to set at rest the question of the existence or
non-existence of a practicable passage for ships around the
north coast of America from Europe to Asia. Although he
does not appear to have been imbued with any admiration
for Hearne's character — for Thompson was a very devout man,
and Hearne an unbeliever — the intimate knowledge gained of
Hearne's journeyings must have been more or less of an
inspiration to him throughout his after life.
After the arrival of the annual ship at Churchill in 1785,
Thompson was sent to York Factory, the journey being
accomplished on foot, along with two Indians, on the low
shore of Hudson Bay. This was his first experience of travel
in the North- West, and evidently the memory of it remained
clear and distinct in his mind. A growing boy, fifteen years
old, set down on the inhospitable shore of Hudson Bay in
the autumn of the year, without provisions, and with instruc-
tions to walk to another fur-trading station a hundred and
fifty miles away, was not likely to forget the journey.
York Factory, like Fort Prince of Wales, had been taken
and burned by the French in 1782, and as, unlike Fort Prince
INTRODUCTION xxvii
of Wales, it was built entirely of wood, the burning had com-
pletely destroyed it. When the fort was destroyed, Humphrey
Marten, the officer in charge for the Hudson's Bay Company,
had been carried away prisoner by the French, but in the
following year, that is in 1783, he had returned and rebuilt
a trading house on the site of the one that had been burned,
half a mile below the position on which York Factory stands
to-day. By this time Marten had been in charge of York
Factory, or some other trading post of the Hudson's Bay
Company, for twenty -four years, and had become so rough
and overbearing that life under him must have been anything
out agreeable. Edward Umfreville, who spent seven years
as a clerk under him before the destruction 01 /ork Factory,
says that he used to beat the Indians most cruelly, and thus
drive them away burning with revenge. He was respected
neither by the Indians, nor " by those who were so unfortu-
nate as to serve under him. His disposition was vindictive
and unsociable to the last degree. English, as well as Indians,
felt the weight of his oppressive temper, which diffused its
corroding effect to every object. Domestic happiness was a
stranger to his table, and his messmates lived a most unhappy
life, under the rod of this unrelenting taskmaster." ^
Thompson arrived at York about September 13, and the
two Indians were rewarded for the care that they had taken
of him on the journey by a present of three gallons of brandy
and four pounds of tobacco. He now settled down at York
for a year, his principal companions, besides Marten, being
Joseph Colen, John Ballenden, Alfred Robinson, and John
Jennings. The accounts for the year are in his neat hand-
writing. Besides doing clerical work, he assisted in the trading
store, and at the same time was an indefatigable hunter, and
thus materially assisted in supplying his companions with
geese, ducks, and such other game as abounded in the vicinity.
^ Edward Umfreville, The Present State of Hudsoiis Bay, London, 1790,
pp. 91-2.
xxviii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
As shown in the Servants' Accounts, his purchases from the
Company for the year amounted to £6, 12s. gd., but in contrast
with most of the other accounts, none of this was for brandy.
The year 1786 was a time of commotion among the em-
ployees of the Hudson's Bay Company on the shore of the
Bay. Humphrey Marten had been recalled to England, and
Joseph Colen was appointed as Resident Chief at York in his
place. William Tomison, a Scotchman from Ronaldshay, had
been *' Chief Inland " for some years, and had resigned, but
on Colen's accession to command at York had withdrawn his
resignation and had decided to go back to the Saskatchewan,
with Robert Longmore^ as principal lieutenant. Malcolm
Ross, who was afterwards closely associated with Thompson,
was being sent up the Churchill river from Churchill to
endeavour to open up a direct route from that post to Cumber-
land House on the Saskatchewan river. At the same time
more trading posts were being established on the Saskatchewan
river by the brigades from York itself, in order to compete
with the Canadian traders. The establishment of these posts
had been delayed first by the epidemic of smallpox in 1781,
and then by the destruction of Forts York and Churchill
(or Prince of Wales) in 1782.
On July 21, 1786, after having remained a year at York,
Thompson was fitted out with a trunk, a handkerchief, shoes,
shirts, a gun, powder, and a tin pot or cup, and the next day
he, with forty-six other " Englishmen " in charge of Robert
Longmore, started inland up the Hayes river to establish
more trading posts on the Saskatchewan river, above Hudson's
* Robert Longmore was a trader in the employ of the Hudson's Bay
Company for many years. He was in charge of the brigade of canoes with
which Thompson first went inland in 1786, and afterwards in 1799 was Master
at Swan River, with a salary of /70 a year. Samuel Hearne wrote of him in
1786, "He possesses a very essential qualification, which is, that of being
universally beloved by the natives. To add to this, his long residence in those
parts [the Saskatchewan country], together with an invariable attention to the
Con>pany's interests, must long since have made him a competent judge of
their affairs in that quarter."
INTRODUCTION xxix
House, which appears to have been the most remote post of
the Hudson's Bay Company occupied at that time. Tomison
remained behind at York Factory till August 30, when, with
two young men, Hugh Folster and Magnus Tate, and one
Indian, he followed the brigade with its loaded canoes to the
Saskatchewan. The party ascended the North Saskatchewan
river to a point on its northern bank, forty-two miles above
Battleford and twelve miles north of the present station of
Birling on the Canadian Northern Railway, where they cleared
the ground and built a trading post composed of one or more
log houses, probably surrounded by a wooden stockade. When
completed, they dignified this collection of huts with the name
of Manchester House.
Edward Umfreville, who had once been employed by the
Hudson's Bay Company as a clerk or writer at York Factory,
but who was now in the employ of the North- West Company,
had been occupying a similar trading store for the past three
years at a point forty miles farther up the river, but as far as
we know there were no white men beyond him, and it was
not until three years later that Peter Pangman, one of the
partners of the North-West Company, ascended the Saskat-
chewan as far as Rocky Mountain House, so that young
Thompson had now reached almost to the very limit of the
country with which civilised men were familiar on the
Saskatchewan at that time. Far to the north and north-
west there were a couple of trading posts on the Churchill
and Athabaska rivers in charge of such men as Alexander
Mackenzie and Peter Pond, but to the south and west was a
great unknown wilderness inhabited only by the native
Indians.
It was a time of strenuous opposition in the fur trade
between the English traders from Hudson Bay and the Scotch
traders with French employees from Montreal, and some of
these latter evidently came and settled near Manchester
House, for Thompson makes incidental mention in his journal
XXX DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of these traders who were opposed to his employers. The
Company was working hard to secure furs wherever they
might be found, and the Blackfeet and Piegan Indians who
roamed over the plains to the south brought quite a few
wolf skins to the traders, and with care it was hoped they
might be taught to catch beaver and some of the other more
valuable fur-bearing animals. It was therefore necessary to
send some one out among these Indians to gain their friend-
ship and to secure their trade, and Thompson and six others
were chosen for the enterprise. The party travelled south-
westward to the Bow river, probably to somewhere in the
vicinity of the present city of Calgary, where there was a
large camp of Piegan. Here, after sending some of his men
back to Manchester House, he settled down for the greater
part of the winter in the tent of an old Chief named Sauka-
mappee, and the friendship of this chief, though it did not
always prevent trouble, stood him in good stead many times
in his after life. Some of the stories and traditions of the
Indians which he obtained at the time form an interesting
part of the present book.
This was Thompson's first introduction to the great
plains, and as he went to them so young, being then only
seventeen years old, he evidently got a thorough, sympathetic
conception of the natural untainted life and habits of the
western Indians who wandered over them.
Some time during the following winter or spring he
returned to the trading post on the Saskatchewan river,
and later he descended the river for about one hundred and
twenty-five miles to an older trading post called Hudson's
House, which had been built by Tomison some years before.
This post was situated a short distance above the present city
of Prince Albert, three or four miles below a place now known
as ' Yellow Banks,' on the edge of a forest of spruce and pine.
The Blackfoot tribes of the plains would hardly be likely to
come to a place so far east and so completely surrounded by
INTRODUCTION xxxi
forest as this was, so that the Indians whom he would meet
here would probably be Cree and Assiniboin.
The only thing we know about him during the following
summer is that in some way he had the misfortune to break
his right leg ; and through improper setting, or for some
other reason, this accident caused him considerable discom-
fort for some years.
Towards the end of summer, he again continued down the
river, on this occasion as far as Cumberland House on Pine
Island lake, a post that had been built by Samuel Hearne,
his former master at Fort Churchill, fifteen years before, with
the object of intercepting the Indians who were coming
down with their furs from the Athabaska and Churchill
river regions, and of preventing them, if possible, from dis-
posing of these furs to the Frobishers and the other traders
who came west from Montreal.
He was at this time nineteen years old. It is evident that
he had always been interested in surveying and in observing
and recording natural phenomena, so when he had settled
down for the winter he began to keep a careful meteorological
journal in which were noted the readings of the thermometer
three or four times a day, the direction and force of the wind,
and general remarks on the climate. During this same winter
he took also a series of astronomical observations, six being
meridian altitudes of the sun for latitude, and thirty-five
lunar distances for longitude. The results of the observations
place Cumberland House in north latitude 53° 56' 44", and
west longitude 102° 13', a position almost identical with that
which it occupies to-day on the latest official maps. When
one considers the nautical almanacs that were available at that
time, this result is quite astonishing and puts to shame much
even of the good observing of the present day. At that time
there were very few other points on this whole continent of
America whose positions on the earth's surface were as
accurately known as this remote trading post on the Saskat-
xxxu DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
chewan river. On the maps of Canada its position has been
changed many times, but the latest surveys have brought it
back to the place to which it was assigned by this young
astronomer one hundred and twenty-five years ago.
Such was the beginning of his long career of geodetic
surveying which was to make him the greatest practical land
geographer that the world has produced. Very few men
have had the opportunity of exploring the half of a great new
continent, and no one else has ever seized the opportunity
as David Thompson did. For many thousands of miles, in
pursuit of my work when engaged as a geologist on the staff
of the Geological Survey of Canada between the years 1883
and 1898, it was my good fortune to travel over the same
routes that he had travelled a century before, and to take
observations on the sun and stars on the very spots where he
had observed ; and while my instruments may have been
better than his, his surveys and observations were invariably
found to have an accuracy that left little or nothing to be
desired.^
In the following spring, after having determined by
astronomical observations the position of his winter home, he
started with the fur brigade for York Factory and made a
survey of the Saskatchewan and Hayes rivers to that place,
a distance of seven hundred and fifty miles.
Later on in the summer, he again returned to Cumber-
land House, and spent the winter with Philip Turnor, a
surveyor in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company. With
this man as a tutor, and doubtless with the thought of some
of the difficulties in the work of the previous winter in his
mind, he devoted himself heart and soul to the study of
practical astronomy and surveying.
In the following spring he again descended to York, while
^ In a letter dated 1817, Thompson states that a large ten-inch brass sextant
of Dolland's, reading to the 1 5", had been his constant companion for twenty-
eight years. He evidently obtained it about this time.
INTRODUCTION xxxiii
his friend and teacher, Philip Turner, started north-westward
by Frog Portage to Lake Athabaska.
After having thus spent four years in the Saskatchewan
country, he left it for a while, and remained for a year at
York Factory, where his time was largely occupied in taking
a long series of astronomical observations for latitude and
longitude, the results of which correctly placed the position
of the factory half a degree west of the location previously
determined by Tumor.
During the spring of 1788, the mouth of the Hayes river,
on the west bank of which York Factory was situated, became
blocked with broken ice, which caused the water to rise behind
it and flood the adjoining land. The water rose several feet
in the dwelling-house and did a large amount of damage to
the buildings and stores. In order to prevent a recurrence
of such a calamity, Colen moved the fort upstream about half
a mile to its present position, on a spot of higher and drier
ground. The process of moving occupied several years, and
was not completed until 1793, so that doubtless Thompson,
among other duties, assisted in building the Factory in its
present position.
South-west of York Factory, and at no great distance from
it, is the country called by Thompson the Muskrat country.
It is situated on some of the western tributaries of Nelson
river that flow into that stream at Split lake, and in a general
way lies between the Churchill river to the north and the
Saskatchewan river to the south. Curiously enough this
region, though so near York Factory and so rich in fur-bearing
animals, had been occupied exclusively by the traders of the
North- West Company from Montreal. Even as early as 1780
Samuel Hearne wrote from Churchill with regard to these
traders and others acting under instructions from Peter Pond
on Athabaska river, " The Canadians have found means to
intercept some of my best Northern Leaders. However, I
still live in hopes of getting a few [furs] from that quarter."
xxxiv DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
In 1792 Colen and his associates on the Council of the
Hudson's Bay Company at York decided to make an effort to
wrest the trade of this country from the Canadians, and
accordingly they sent William Cook, Malcolm Ross, and David
Thompson to establish trading posts in the district. With
his appointment to a fur-trading post in the Muskrat country,
Thompson was thus placed in the front of the firing line in a
struggle in which his adversaries were not only the Canadian
traders of the North- West Company, who were the natural
antagonists of the Hudson's Bay Company, but also the traders
of his own Company under the jurisdiction of Churchill and
not of York Factory ; for Churchill and York, though both
trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company, sent their re-
ports in to the head office at London independently, and the
rivalry between them was such that it became occasionally
necessary for the Board of Directors to intervene.
In order to understand the conditions by which Thompson
was surrounded, it will be necessary to review briefly the con-
dition of the fur trade at York and Churchill at that time.
The traders from Montreal, who afterwards united into the
North-West Company, travelling in canoes through Lakes
Superior and Winnipeg, reached the upper portion of the
Churchill river in 1776, and built a house on the Athabaska
river, a short distance above Lake Athabaska, in 1778, from
which place they extended their trading posts westward
up Peace river and northward down the Mackenzie river.
Churchill and York, the trading posts of the Hudson's Bay
Company on Hudson Bay, immediately felt the effect of this
invasion of the " Canadians," for the Indians had always
brought their furs to the posts on the Bay to trade for such
articles as they wanted, and now they were able to dispose of
them inland. Consequently, in 1774, the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's men went inland and built Cumberland House on the
Saskatchewan river, and two years later they went farther up
the same river and built Hudson's House, from which place an
INTRODUCTION xxxv
outpost appears to have been established still farther up the
Saskatchewan at the Elbow. Here both the employees of the
Hudson's Bay Company and the Canadians appear to have
lived in the winter of 1779-80 ; and here, in the spring of
1780, Cole, one of the Canadian traders, was killed in a quarrel
with the Indians, and all the other traders, no matter what
Company they were serving, were obliged to flee down the
river for safety. Immediately afterwards smallpox ravaged
the country, swept away great numbers of the Indians, and
disheartened the survivors. After the smallpox epidemic had
abated, York and Churchill Factories were destroyed by the
French, and all the furs contained in them were confiscated.
These disasters paralyzed the energies of the Hudson's Bay
Company for a time, and it was not until 1786 that the party
under William Tomison, of which Thompson was a member,
ascended the Saskatchewan river past Cumberland House and
built Manchester House 425 miles above it.
About the same time it had occurred to some one that it
should be possible to reach the Saskatchewan river more
easily from Churchill than from York by a direct route up
the Churchill river, and accordingly in the same year in which
Thompson left for the Saskatchewan, Malcolm Ross, who had
already been at Cumberland, was sent from York on July 27,
1786, to Churchill, with instructions to go up the Churchill
river to Cumberland House.
In regard to this expedition, Samuel Hearne, then in
charge of Churchill, wrote to Joseph Colen at York as follows,
under date of August 6, 1786 :
" Malcolm Ross's experience in the interior parts of the country
will, I hope, render him perfect master of the business he is going
about. Since Malcolm's arrival here five canoes of Nelson Indians
came to the Factory, two of which have been prevailed upon to carry
him and his companions to Cumberland House, where they will be
ready to prosecute the remainder of the Company's orders in the
spring."
xxxvi DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
As will be seen later, Hearne himself had no confidence in
the successful issue of this expedition from a commercial point
of view.
The following summer Malcolm Ross had evidently
returned to York, for in a letter to Samuel Hearne, dated
York Factory, July 19, 1787, Joseph Colen wrote :
*' Malcolm Ross tells me he had many difficulties to encounter
before he reached Cumberland House from Churchill, the water so
shoal as to prevent the navigation of small canoes."
In answer Hearne wrote :
" I am sorry to hear of the difficulties Malcolm Ross had to en-
counter with, tho' from my own knowledge no less could be expected ;
this river a little distance from here is inaccessible for anything much
larger than a light canoe."
In the following year, 1788, Colen sent Robert Longmore
from York to Churchill to prosecute the discoveries from
Churchill inland. His party did not succeed in opening a
trade route to the Saskatchewan river, but it did succeed
in establishing, or arranging for the establishment of, trading
posts at several places up the Churchill river.
In 1789 the Board of Diiectors of the Hudson's Bay
Company in London sent Philip Turnor from London to
Lake Athabaska in order to find out its exact location, and
after his return they kept instructing Colen and his associates
on the Council at York to send Ross and Thompson to that
country, but Colen seems to have taken a very perfunctory
interest in the enterprise, and to have been much more
interested in competing with the Company's men from
Churchill for the trade of the country near the headwaters
of the Burntwood and Grass rivers in what Thompson calls
the Muskrat country.
In 1792 Ross and Thompson, instead of being sent to Lake
Athabaska, were, as stated above, despatched up the Nelson
river to winter at Sipiwesk lake. In the following spring
INTRODUCTION xxxvii
Thompson alone, without any assistance from York, endea-
voured to explore a new route to the Athabaska country by
Reindeer lake, but being unable to obtain Indian canoemen
was obliged to turn back and return to York.
Later in the year 1793, he left York and, accompanied by
Malcolm Ross, went up to Cumberland House on the Saskat-
chewan river, and after remaining there three days continued
on to Buckingham House, where he spent the winter of 1793-
94. With regard to this journey the directors in London
wrote that they would expect much good to follow the expe-
dition of Ross and Thompson to the Athabaska country, and
also that the arrangements made by which William Cook was
to return in winter from Split lake, where he was in charge,
and accompany Ross and Thompson to the Athabaska country,
met with their " full approbation." At the same time they
wrote, expressing the hope that George Charles, who had gone
up the Churchill river from Fort Churchill, would " restore
a considerable part of the long lost trade to Churchill."
But William Cook remained at Split lake all winter, and
while it is possible that Colen intended that Thompson
should proceed from Cumberland House to Lake Athabaska
instead of going to Buckingham House, there is no notice of
any such intention in Thompson's journals, and it is impossible
to avoid the conclusion that Colen was guilty of duplicity,
and that while he had no interest in the exploration of the
more remote interior parts of the country, he endeavoured to
put the blame for his want of enterprise on other shoulders.
This opinion is strengthened by a statement in a letter from
the Board of Directors in London to the Council at York,
dated May 30, 1795, with reference to Peter Fidler, who was
Thompson's fellow surveyor in the Hudson's Bay Company,
though at a much lower salary. It is as follows :
" We observe that Mr. P. Fidler has been kept at the Factory for
two seasons past, but for the future we direct him to proceed inland on
discoveries."
xxxviii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
When Thompson arrived at York Factory from the Saskat-
chewan river in the summer of 1794, Colen and his associates
at York wrote to England as follows :
" Notwithstanding the steps pursued last fall to ensure the success
of the Athapascow Expedition, we are sorry to remark it was again set
aside at Cumberland House this Spring. As these transactions happened
many hundred miles distance from us, and with much secrecy, we
cannot from our own knowledge inform your honours the real cause,
and it is from letter and hearsay we form our judgment. It, however,
appears surprising, for when Mr. Colen accompanied the men and boats
up Hill River, with trading goods, many volunteers offered their service
for the Athapascow Expedition, and said they were ready to have gone
from Cumberland House with Messrs. Ross and Thompson, but Mr.
Tomison refusing to pass his word for the advance of wages promised
by the Honourable Committee it of course stopt the Expedition in
question and the considerable loss of your honours. Indeed we find
this business involved in mystery, and as are many other transactions
inland. . . . We have already remarked on the overthrow of the
Athapascow Expedition this season. The repeated disappointments so
much disheartened Mr. Ross determined him to return to England had
not Mr. Thompson prevailed on him to pursue some other track into
the Athapascow country, for they declare it will be impossible to carry
it on from Cumberland as the Honourable Company's affairs at present
stand, as every obstacle is thrown in the way to prevent its success. In
order to suppress similar obstructions Mr. Ross took men and one
canoe cargo of goods with him from Cumberland House and built a
house to the northward near to a station occupied by a Mr. Thompson,
a Canadian Proprietor whose success of late years in collecting of furs
has been great. Mr. David Thompson has been fitted out with men
and three canoe cargoes from this place to supply Mr. Ross by pro-
ceeding up Nelson River track."
It would thus appear that Ross had become thoroughly dis-
gusted with the obstructions put in the way of an expedition
into the Athabaska country either at York or by those in charge
on the Saskatchewan river, and had decided to go to England,
doubtless in order to be able to appeal directly to the Board
of Directors, but that Thompson had urged him to consent
INTRODUCTION xxxix
to remain in the country until they had definitely found out
whether the route by Reindeer lake was feasible as a trade
route or not. But Ross's heart was not in this work of dis-
covery, and he would furnish no assistance for the exploration
of a new route when he believed that the old one followed
by the North- Westers was good enough.
It is difficult to understand some of the statements made
in the letter cited above. It is evident, however, that it was
Colen's avowed intention that Ross and Thompson should
proceed from Cumberland House to the Athabaska country
by the route which had been travelled by the traders of the
North-West Company for a number of years, and by Philip
Turnor of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1791, but that he
claimed that this had been frustrated by Tomison, the Chief
at Cumberland in charge of the inland trade, or by the insub-
ordination of the canoemen, and that Thompson was sent up
the Saskatchewan river instead.
In their answer to this letter, written in May, 1795, the
directors in London show their sympathy for David Thompson
by saying, " We are perfectly satisfied with the conduct of
Messrs. David Thompson, Ross, and others," and by requesting
that Thompson should be advised of their approbation. They
wrote also, " Obstacles are again, we perceive, thrown in the
way of the Athapascow Expedition, but we trust all diffi-
culties which occur and impede the Company's success will
soon be removed."
That Colen believed that he had shelved the Athabaska
question for a time is shown by the fact that he sent Ross,
Thompson, Cook, Tate, and Sinclair back into the Muskrat
country to oppose two Canadian traders named Robert
Thompson and McKay who had been cutting into the York
Factory trade for some years past. That winter Robert
Thompson, who had been for many years on the Churchill
and Nelson rivers, was killed in a quarrel with some Indians.
David Thompson spent the winter of 1794-95 at Reed lake.
xl DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
and in July, 1795, paid his last visit to York Factory. He had
been making surveys wherever he went, so that the amount
of geographical information that he had collected was very
large, but there had been no attempt on the part of the
Company to help him push westward to the Athabaska
country. Nevertheless Colen and his Council at York wrote
to London as follows : " The steps pursued last season in
the exploring a new track towards the Athabasca country
we hope will meet your Honour's approbation." In return
the directors demanded to see the maps of the country which
had been explored.
But the end of this truculent quibbling was at hand.
Ross and Thompson left York for the Nelson river on July 18,
1795, and the Council wrote to London with reference to
Athabaska exploration that " Messrs. Ross and Thompson
were despatched from the factory with men in four large
canoes loaded with trading goods last July, and we hope to
give a good account of their success next season " ; but they
added a sentence which shows they were thinking only of the
trade in the Muskrat country itself, " Should the track up
Seal River be found nearer and a better road, the whole of
that track will be surrendered up to Churchill."
Ross and Thompson went directly to Fairford House and
Duck Portage respectively, where they built trading stores
and spent the following winter, being obliged to compete on
the one hand with traders from Canada and on the other with
traders in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company from
Churchill.
The following summer, 1796, Ross went down to York
alone, while Thompson made a final and in this case successful
attempt to push north-westward through Deer and Wollaston
lakes to Lake Athabaska.
But how different was the outfit and assistance supplied
him from what he had a right to expect, considering the
anxiety shown by the directors of the Company in the success
INTRODUCTION xli
of his expedition. Instead of a proper supply of men, canoes,
and trading goods, he was obliged to engage two previously
untried Indians who knew nothing of such work ; no canoe
was to be had, so that it was necessary for him to go into the
woods, collect birch bark, and make one ; all he had was a
fish net and a small quantity of ammunition, except the
compass and sextant, which were his own private property.
So provided, he started out on a long exploring expedition
into a new country. The account of this expedition is given
in his own words on pages 133-53, ^^ ^^^^ ^^ need not
repeat it here.
On his return from Lake Athabaska he built a trading
post on the west side of Reindeer lake, where he was later
joined by Malcolm Ross, his old companion, who brought
with him fresh supplies, but at the same time he brought also
an order from Joseph Colen, the Resident Chief at York,
instructing him to stop surveying. Such an order, which he
must have felt to be contrary to the earnest wishes of the
directors of the Company, after the great personal exertions
and sacrifices which he had made to carry out those wishes,
cut him to the heart. Nevertheless the two men settled
down quietly to the routine of trade, and spent together
what proved to be one of the coldest winters ever known in
western Canada.
As his term of service had expired, Thompson now decided
to leave the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. On Tues-
day, May 23, 1797, he therefore left the little cabin on Reindeer
lake which had been his home during the winter, and with it
the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. " This day," runs
the entry in his journal, " left the service of the Hudson's Bay
Company, and entered that of the Company of the Merchants
from Canada. May God Almighty prosper me."
Thompson had been with the Hudson's Bay Company for
thirteen years. During these years he had travelled in all
about nine thousand miles, and of this distance he had made
xHi DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
careful surveys, checked by numerous astronomical observa-
tions, of three thousand five hundred miles. He had also
correctly determined by multiple observations for latitude
and longitude, the positions of eight widely separated places
in the interior of the continent, and of one (York Factory)
on Hudson Bay, so that his surveys extended between known
positions. In addition to his surveying work he had taken
and recorded regular observations on the climate and general
natural phenomena.
The following letter, written after he reached the trading
post of the North- West Company, shows how keenly he felt
the opposition which Colen had shown to his surveying work.
"Deers River, Jum i, 1797.
"Mr. Colen.
"Sir: — I take this opportunity of returning you my most re-
spectful thanks for your loan of two guineas to my mother. I have
enclosed a bill to you for the above amount.
" My friends belonging to York inform me that you are very
desirous to find out who was the author of those letters that were wrote
to H. B. Co. and militated against you 1795. I will give you that
satisfaction. When I came down that year the other gentlemen were
waiting my arrival in order to assist them in drawing up their
grievances ; as you were then absent I accepted the office with some
hesitation, but as the letters were to be delivered to you on your
landing at York for your inspection, and that you might have time to
answer them, I considered you in a manner as present. — Those letters
were drawn up by me, assisted by my friend Dr. Thomas, and not
one half of the evils complained of were enumerated.
" You told Mr. Ross that when in England you were endeavouring
to serve those, who behind your back were trying to cut your throat. —
Before you went to England I had always a Letter and Books from the
Co., since that neither the one nor the other, and I have been put the
whole winter to the greatest inconvenience for want of a Nautical
Almanac.
" Many of us acknowledge with readiness that you have some good
qualities, and I had once the greatest respect for you ; I have some yet,
but ... it is not my wish to say those things which I know you do
INTRODUCTION xliii
not wish to hear. How is it, Sir, that everyone who has once wished
you well should turn to be indifferent to you, and even some to hate
you, altho' they are constant in their other friendships, — there must be
a defect somewhere.
" The fact is, that from your peculiar manner of conduct, you are
also one of those unfortunate men who will have many an acquaintance,
but never never a real friend. — Your humble Servant,
" D. Thompson."
But if the Hudson's Bay Company did not need Thomp-
son's services as a surveyor, the North- West Company, w^hich
was controlled by men with much larger and more progressive
ideas, was anxious to obtain some accurate knowledge of the
extent and character of the country in which it was carrying
on its business. When he left the little trading post of the
Hudson's Bay Company on the west shore of Reindeer lake
and walked down to the nearest post of the North-Westers,
about seventy-five miles farther south, Thompson felt sure of
a welcome from the Canadians. After staying at Fraser's
House for about ten days, he proceeded to Grand Portage on
Lake Superior. On the way he met some of the members of
the North- West Company, among them Roderick Mackenzie,
a cousin of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, and the author of 7he
History of the Fur Trade which forms the Introduction to
Alexander Mackenzie's Voyages^ and Simon Fraser, who after-
wards descended the Fraser river. These men were hence-
forward to be his associates.
For the last three years during which Thompson had been
in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company he had been
receiving £60 a year, which was probably the largest salary
paid to any employee of his age at the time, but it is not
known on what terms he was engaged by the North-West
Company. His first work, however, was to consist of one
continuous surveying trip unhampered by any necessity for
looking after trade returns. His instructions were (i) to
determine the position of the 49th parallel of latitude, which
xliv DAVID THOMPSONS NARRATIVE
by the Treaty of 1792, had been decided on as the boundary
line between the United States and British North America ;
(2) to visit the villages of the Mandan Indians on the Mis-
souri river ; (3) to search for fossil bones of large animals ;
(4) to determine the positions of the trading posts of the
North-West Company.
Starting from Grand Portage on Lake Superior, he turned
back into the western country by the ordinary trade route
down the Rainy and Winnipeg rivers and through Lakes
Winnipeg and Winnipegosis to Swan and Assiniboine rivers,
and down this latter stream to the mouth of the Souris river,
which he reached about the beginning of winter. From
there he struck southward across the plains to the Mandan
villages on the Missouri, back again to the Assiniboine, down
that river, up the Red river and across the head waters of
the Mississippi river to the site of the present city of
Duluth, and then around the south shore to Lake Superior
to Sault Ste. Marie and back by the north shore to Grand
Portage, where he arrived early in June, having been about
ten months accomplishing his journey. Since he had left
Grand Portage in the previous year, he had covered a total
of four thousand miles of survey through previously un-
surveyed territory, a record that has rarely been equalled.
The partners of the North-West Company seem to have
been very well satisfied with the work so far done by him, but
he was an able and experienced fur-trader as well as a surveyor,
and the North-West Company was a commercial concern
and needed furs, therefore they apparently decided not to
continue to employ Thompson exclusively at survey work,
but to engage him at his old business of trading for furs, with
the privilege of making surveys at the same time. This
arrangement was satisfactory to Thompson, and about the
middle of July he started west again, this time for Lake La
Biche at the headwaters of one of the branches of the
Athabaska river, where he spent the following winter.
INTRODUCTION xlv
In the summer of 1799 he extended his surveys to the
Athabaska river and some of its tributaries, and from Methy
Portage, which is on the canoe route to Lake Athabaska, he
started on his way down the Churchill river to Grand Portage.
At Isle k la Crosse he stopped for a few days, and on June 10
married Charlotte Small, a half-breed girl fourteen years of
age. A memorandum in an old Bible belonging to Mrs. Shaw,
one of his daughters, states that Charlotte Small was born at
Isle k la Crosse on September i, 1785. It is highly probable
that she was a daughter of Patrick Small, who was one of the
earliest traders on the Churchill river.^
After the wedding, Thompson went eastward to Grand
Portage, probably taking his bride with him. To this place
drawing-paper had been sent from Montreal for his maps,
and with the precious paper in his possession he accompanied
John McDonald of Garth, back to Fort George on the
Saskatchewan, which was situated close to Buckingham House
of the Hudson's Bay Company, his old home of the winter
of 1793-4, where he wintered and drew his maps.^
On March 25 he was again on the move, for he then
crossed to the south side of the Saskatchewan, and started
overland for Fort Augustus, travelling along the north side
^ Patrick Small was a native of Glengarry, and a nephew of Major-General
Small of the 42nd Highlanders. In 1786-7 he was in charge of the post at
Isle k la Crosse for the North-West Company. In 1790 he was one of the
partners in the North-West Company, owning two shares, or a one-tenth
interest in it. He was a Roman Catholic in religion, and had married a Chip-
pewa woman in the west. There was also another and younger man named
Patrick Small in the employ of the North-West and Hudson's Bay Companies,
probably a brother of Mrs. Thompson ; he married a daughter of James Hughes,
by whom he had nine children, and he died in 1846 at Carlton. His wife died
in Manitoba, and lies buried in the St. Boniface cemetery.
* In the list of partners and employees of the North-West Company for
this year, published by Masson in the " Reminiscences of Roderick Mackenzie,"
David Thompson's name appears as an employee assigned to " Upper Fort
des Prairie and Rocky Mountains" with a salary of 1200 G.P. Currency, which
was the same salary that was then being paid to Simon Fraser, Alexander
McKay, Hugh McGillis, and James Hughes. G.P. undoubtedly stands for
Grand Portage, but I have been unable to learn what was the unit of value.
xlvi DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of the " Chain of Lakes " north of the Vermilion river, near
the north line of Township 54. On March 28 he reached
Fort Augustus, and on the 31st he left it for Rocky Mountain
House, which had been built the previous autumn. He
travelled southward to the east of Bear's Hills, across two
branches of Battle river, down the Wolf's trail, and westward
across Wolf Creek (Blind Man river), to a crossing of Clear-
water river, two miles above its mouth, and arrived at Rocky
Mountain House on April 7, crossing the river on the ice,
which was still strong.
The old house of the North-West Company was on the
north bank of the Saskatchewan on a beautiful wide level flat
a mile and a quarter above the mouth of the Clearwater
river. After the union of the companies it continued to be
occupied for many years. It was strongly fortified on account
of the possible hostility of the Blackfeet who traded there,
and the ruins of these old fortifications were still standing
when I visited the place in 1886.
From here he had intended to cross southward to the
Red Deer river and descend it in a boat, but having been
lamed in some way, he sent four men, Chauvette, La Gassi,
Clement, and Jacco Cardinal, on this journey. As he records
the fact that they started from Rocky Mountain House, and
that a boat had been built for them beforehand, and as some
of them at all events are afterwards mentioned in his journal,
it seems probable that these men successfully descended the
Red Deer and South Saskatchewan rivers, being probably
the first white men to accompHsh this journey.
The next two years were spent by Thompson at Rocky
Mountain House or in its vicinity, and in exploring the
country to the west of it as far as the foot of the Rocky
Mountains from the Bow river northward to the Saskat-
chewan. Then he moved to the Peace river, and made his
headquarters at the trading post at the Forks, which had been
built by Alexander Mackenzie in 1792, when preparing to
INTRODUCTION xlvii
make his journey westward to the Pacific. While there he
made a survey up the river to the last post occupied by the
traders, and when leaving the country he descended and
surveyed the river to its mouth in Lake Athabaska. After
leaving Peace river, he went back into the Muskrat country,
where he had previously spent four years while in the employ
of the Hudson's Bay Company. Through the inattention and
carelessness of some of the partners of the North- West Com-
pany, and through the greater efficiency in management
shown by the Hudson's Bay Company, the trade of this
district had been allowed to fall largely into the hands of the
latter Company.
In previous years, while working under the jurisdiction of
York Factory, Thompson had had to contend against the
traders from Churchill, as well as against the Canadian traders
of the North-West Company. On this occasion the Hudson's
Bay traders from York had withdrawn, and had left the field
to those from Churchill who were now under the control of
Thompson's old schoolmate, George Charles. At the same
time there was also a third interest struggling for the trade
in the X Y Company of Montreal.
Thompson brought with him three canoes loaded with
trading supplies, which he distributed among five different
trading posts from Cranberry lake on the south to Indian
lake on the north. He himself went almost directly to
Nelson House on the Churchill river, where George Charles,
governor of the Churchill district, now had his headquarters,
and from there he went a little farther down the river to a
place called Musquawegan (or Bear's Backbone), where he
built a house and spent the winter. That summer Charles
had made a prisoner of Louis Dupleix of the North-West
Company for stealing furs from the Hudson's Bay Company
and had sent him to Churchill, where he was to be tried. But
neither this incident, nor the hard conditions of the fur trade,
served to cause any serious disagreement between old friends.
xlviii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
During thewinter they extended to each other various civilities,
including the loan of books, and when Thompson was leaving
Churchill river in the spring of 1805, everything that he did
not need to take with him was left in the care of Charles in
the Hudson's Bay Company's store at Nelson House. The
two men had done their utmost to outwit each other in trade
for the benefit of their respective companies, but at the same
time they had remained neighbours and friends.
After rounding up the furs from Indian lake, Musqua-
wegan, and Nelson House, which he calls " the old post," he
started for Cumberland with all hands, picking up the furs
from the post on Cranberry lake as he passed it. At Cumber-
land House, where he was welcomed by Hamilton, then in
charge, he baled his furs and sent them down to Kamini-
stikwia with Morrin and Carter, while he spent the summer
visiting his posts at Reindeer lake and river and at Cran-
berry lake.
In the autumn, with a new and larger supply of goods, he
started back into the same country. On the way he dis-
mantled the post on Cranberry lake, and passing the old
post in Reed lake, where he and Malcolm Ross had spent a
winter together, he decided on a place to build a house near
where an old house had stood about twenty years before, for
here fish were said to be most plentiful, and it was on fish
that he was obliged to rely almost entirely for food. He sent
Connelly on to Indian lake, Joseph Plante to Old Fort
(Nelson House), and Fran9ois Morrin to Pukkatowagan
(Setting) lake, while he himself, surrounded by his family,
spent the winter at the house which he had just built on the
shore of Reed lake.
The following spring, when all the men came in from his
three outposts, the returns were found to be small, and it was
probably with considerable relief that he handed over the
charge of the district to a partner named Wills and started
eastward for Kaministikwia.
INTRODUCTION xlix
On November 5, 1804, the North- West and X Y Com-
panies had discontinued their expensive struggle for the furs
caught by the Indians and agreed to unite their forces, and
David Thompson's name appears among the list of the partners
as having signed the agreement hy attorney. As a conse-
quence of the strength thus gained by union, the North- West
Company decided to extend its trade into the country west
of the Rocky Mountains which is now covered by the
province of British Columbia and the states of Idaho, Wash-
ington, Oregon, and the western portion of Montana.
In 1805 Simon Fraser was sent up the Peace river to
establish posts at its head-waters and around the sources of
the Fraser river, in the country subsequently known as New
Caledonia, and in the following year Thompson was sent up
the Saskatchewan river to his old home at Rocky Mountain
House, to be ready to cross the mountains the following
year. An attempt to trade with the Indians west of the
Rocky Mountains made from this place in 1801 had been
iutile, but renewed efforts were now determined on. On
the previous occasion Duncan McGillivray, who was
stationed at Rocky Mountain House, was probably Thompson's
superior in the Company, and controlled the policy of ex-
ploration pursued from the uppermost trading post on the
Saskatchewan river, but now Thompson himself was in
charge and was to lead the trading parties through the
mountains.
During the winter great preparations were made for an
•expedition westward, and John McDonald of Garth, who
was in charge at Fort de I'Isle on the Saskatchewan river,
•came up to Rocky Mountain House twice to assist in the
arrangements, on one occasion in February going to the
mountains himself. Quesnel and Finan McDonald, who were
Thompson's assistants, also went to the mountains and
freighted up some goods in advance. But everything was
done quietly, for the employees of the Hudson's Bay Com-
1 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
pany under a trader named J. P. Prudens were living in an
adjoining house, and were watching all their movements.
Having spent the winter of 1806-7 at Rocky Mountain
House, Thompson pushed westward, accompanied by his wife
and family, to the Columbia river, through what has since
been called the Howse Pass, though Joseph Howse, who was a
clerk in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, did not
travel over it until it had been beaten by Thompson for two
years. For three years he travelled backwards and forwards
across the mountains through this pass, during which time he
was engaged in establishing numerous trading posts on the
Columbia river and its tributaries, in making surveys of
every mile travelled, and in taking astronomical observations
to supplement these surveys and to determine the positions
of the houses which he occupied.
While Thompson was thus extending the fur-trade of the
North- West Company into the country west of the Rocky
Mountains, his old employers had not forgotten him, and the
reports of his explorations were anxiously listened to by the
Governors of the Hudson's Bay Company in their board-
room in London. In the spring of 1808, the Governors wrote
to the Council at York Factory asking how far west Thompson
had succeeded in going, and John McNab and his colleagues
on the Council sent answer that he had wintered across the
mountains the previous year.
That winter McNab and his Council determined, if
possible, to see just how far Thompson had gone, and con-
sequently in 1809 they sent Joseph Howse, a writer in their
employ, in default of some one better trained in exploratory
work, to go west to the Rocky Mountains and discover where
Thompson was going every year. After a short journey into
the mountains Howse returned with his report.
In 1 8 10 Howse again went west, this time prepared with
a plentiful supply of trading goods, and ascending to the head-
waters of the Saskatchewan river, along the route followed
INTRODUCTION U
by Thompson in previous years, he crossed the divide and
reached the Columbia river, which he ascended to its head,
and thence made his way to the Flathead river north of Flat-
head lake, where he spent the winter of 1810-11, not far
from the site of the present town of Kalispell in Montana.
But one winter of such trading, near the battle-ground of
the Piegan and Flathead Indians, was enough, and in the
spring of 1811 Howse and all the employees of the Hudson's
Bay Company abandoned the Columbia valley to their rivals
of the North-West Company, and did not enter it again
until after the union of the two companies in 1821.
In going up the Saskatchewan river, Thompson had been
obliged to pass through the country of the Piegan Indians, who
were constantly at war with the Kutenai Indians on the west
side of the mountains, and naturally the Piegan objected to
a trade which supplied their enemies with knives, spears, guns,
powder, bullets, and many other articles which made them
much more formidable in battle than they had been before.
Even Thompson's friendship with them could not outweigh
their objections to this trade, and they warned him that he
must stop taking supplies to their enemies, or they would be
obliged to kill him and all his party.
In 1 810 they intercepted Thompson's brigade in the
mountains and forced the men to fly for their lives back down
the river. But the Piegan were Indians of the plains and
not of the woods, and Thompson, who knew them thoroughly,
decided to outwit them for all time by establishing a route
so far to the north that they would not be able to reach or
interfere with it. He therefore descended the Saskatchewan
for a short distance to the site of an abandoned house which
had been known as " Boggy Hall." The season was already
late, for there had been just time enough to cross the moun-
tains by the usual route, and the Indians had caused him a
great deal of delay, but in spite of the terrors of a journey
over these mountains by an unknown pass so late in the year
lii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
that it would probably extend into the heart of winter, he
started with a train of pack-horses north-westward through
the forest to the head of the Athabaska river, and, after
overcoming tremendous difficulties and enduring extreme
privations, he reached the Columbia river at the mouth of
the Canoe river, at a place now known as the Big Bend, on
January 26, 1811. It has often been stated that Thompson
was sent on a rush journey to the mouth of the Columbia
river to forestall the employees of the Pacific Fur Company
in building a trading post there, but in his journals there is
no intimation whatever that such was his errand. He was
perfectly well aware that the Pacific Fur Company was making
elaborate preparations to establish trading posts on the
Columbia river, but for several years he and his people had
occupied advantageous positions on that river and its tribu-
taries, and he felt that he was able to hold the trade. He
was extending the fur trade of the North-West Company
among the Indians west of the mountains, and was searching
out and surveying the best routes by which those Indians
could be reached and by which the furs obtained from them
could be transported to Montreal, and he travelled deliber-
ately and carefully with that object always in view. At the
same time he remembered how the North-West Company
had been turned out of Minnesota by the agents of the
American government, and he determined to avoid a similar
contingency here by publicly claiming for Great Britain the
country in which his posts were situated.
In the spring of 181 1 he ascended the Columbia river as
usual and descended the Kootenay river to his old trading
posts, travelled by canoe and on horseback among these posts,
and then returned to the Columbia river, which he reached
at Ilthkoyape or Kettle Falls. From this place he descended
the stream to Fort Astoria at its mouth, where he landed on
July 15, 181 1, and where he found Duncan McDougall,
an old partner of his, in charge for the Pacific Fur Company.
INTRODUCTION liii
After spending a few days at Astoria with McDougall,
he started back up the Columbia river to the mouth of Snake
river. After travelling backwards and forwards among his
trading posts until the autumn, he again reached Ilthkoyape
Falls. Here he built a canoe and ascended the river through
Arrow lakes, past the present site of Revelstoke, and up
through the Dalles des Morts, whose treacherous rapids and
whirlpools have been fatal to so many boatmen, to the Big
Bend, or Boat Encampment, and thus completed the survey
of the river from its source to its mouth. Portions of this
river have never been resurveyed since that time, so that
Thompson's surveys still appear on every map of the
Columbia river that is published.
Thompson had now been more than twenty-eight years
in northern and western America, and his survey of the
Columbia had completed his preparations for the making of
the map of north-western America toward which he had been
working during these years. The winter of 1811-12 he spent
on Clark's Fork and its tributaries, with headquarters at
Saleesh House, and in the spring of 181 2 he recrossed the
mountains and set off down the Athabaska and Churchill
rivers for Montreal. He arrived in Montreal late in the
summer, after a long and arduous journey and a narrow
escape from the Americans, between whom and Great Britain
war had just been declared ; and never again did he visit the
scenes of his western exploits. At this point the narrative
which is here presented concludes.
Thompson took up his residence at Terrebonne, in the
province of Quebec, and immediately enlisted as an ensign in
the 2nd Battalion under Lieutenant-Colonel Roderick Mac-
kenzie, with his old companion Simon Fraser as one of his fellow
officers. He spent the two years 181 3-14 in preparing his map
of western Canada for the North-West Company, on a scale
of about fifteen miles to an inch, from the observations and
surveys that he had made during the previous twenty-three
lii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
that it would probably extend into the heart of winter, he
started with a train of pack-horses north-westward through
the forest to the head of the Athabaska river, and, after
overcoming tremendous difficulties and enduring extreme
privations, he reached the Columbia river at the mouth of
the Canoe river, at a place now known as the Big Bend, on
January 26, 1811. It has often been stated that Thompson
was sent on a rush journey to the mouth of the Columbia
river to forestall the employees of the Pacific Fur Company
in building a trading post there, but in his journals there is
no intimation whatever that such was his errand. He was
perfectly well aware that the Pacific Fur Company was making
elaborate preparations to establish trading posts on the
Columbia river, but for several years he and his people had
occupied advantageous positions on that river and its tribu-
taries, and he felt that he was able to hold the trade. He
was extending the fur trade of the North-West Company
among the Indians west of the mountains, and was searching
out and surveying the best routes by which those Indians
could be reached and by which the furs obtained from them
could be transported to Montreal, and he travelled deliber-
ately and carefully with that object always in view. At the
same time he remembered how the North- West Company
had been turned out of Minnesota by the agents of the
American government, and he determined to avoid a similar
contingency here by publicly claiming for Great Britain the
country in which his posts were situated.
In the spring of 181 1 he ascended the Columbia river as
usual and descended the Kootenay river to his old trading
posts, travelled by canoe and on horseback among these posts,
and then returned to the Columbia river, which he reached
at Ilthkoyape or Kettle Falls. From this place he descended
the stream to Fort Astoria at its mouth, where he landed on
July 15, 1 81 1, and where he found Duncan McDougall,
an old partner of his, in charge for the Pacific Fur Company.
INTRODUCTION lii*
After spending a few days at Astoria with McDougall,
he started back up the Columbia river to the mouth of Snake
river. After travelling backwards and forwards among his
trading posts until the autumn, he again reached Ilthkoyape
Falls. Here he built a canoe and ascended the river through
Arrow lakes, past the present site of Revelstoke, and up
through the Dalles des Morts, whose treacherous rapids and
whirlpools have been fatal to so many boatmen, to the Big
Bend, or Boat Encampment, and thus completed the survey
of the river from its source to its mouth. Portions of this
river have never been resurveyed since that time, so that
Thompson's surveys still appear on every map of the
Columbia river that is published.
Thompson had now been more than twenty-eight years
in northern and western America, and his survey of the
Columbia had completed his preparations for the making of
the map of north-western America toward which he had been
working during these years. The winter of 1811-12 he spent
on Clark's Fork and its tributaries, with headquarters at
Saleesh House, and in the spring of 181 2 he recrossed the
mountains and set off down the Athabaska and Churchill
rivers for Montreal. He arrived in Montreal late in the
summer, after a long and arduous journey and a narrow
escape from the Americans, between whom and Great Britain
war had just been declared ; and never again did he visit the
scenes of his western exploits. At this point the narrative
which is here presented concludes.
Thompson took up his residence at Terrebonne, in the
province of Quebec, and immediately enlisted as an ensign in
the 2nd Battalion under Lieutenant-Colonel Roderick Mac-
kenzie, with his old companion Simon Fraser as one of his fellow
officers. He spent the two years 181 3-14 in preparing his map
of western Canada for the North-West Company, on a scale
of about fifteen miles to an inch, from the observations and
surveys that he had made during the previous twenty-three
liv DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
years. This map, which is in the possession of the Govern-
ment of the Province of Ontario, and is reproduced on a some-
what reduced scale in the present volume, is entitled :
" Map of the North West Territory of the Province of Canada,
1 792-1 8 1 2, embracing region between Latitudes 45 and 56, and
Longitudes 84 and 124.
"Map made for the North West Company in 1813-1814."
It is interesting to note that it is almost on the same
scale as the great international map of the world which is
now being prepared under the auspices of the governments
of the various civilized countries.
On February 10, 1814, he was registered in Terrebonne as
a land surveyor. From 18 16 to 1826 he was engaged in sur-
veying and defining the boundary line, on the part of Great
Britain, between Canada and the United States. He was
employed in 1 817 in the St. Lawrence, and thence proceeding
westward around the shores of the Great Lakes he reached
the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods in 1825. In
1834 ^^ surveyed Lake St. Francis on the St. Lawrence river ;
in 1837 he made a survey of the canoe route from Lake
Huron to the Ottawa river ; and a few years later he made a
survey of Lake St. Peter.
The last years of his life were spent by Thompson first at
Williamstown, Glengarry county, Ontario, and afterwards in
Longueuil, opposite Montreal. In Williamstown, he bought
the property of the Rev. John Bethune, the father of the
former Bishop of Toronto ; and for a time he was in com-
fortable, if not indeed wealthy, circumstances. But towards
the end of his life he fell on evil days. A mortgage which
he held on the Presbyterian church in Williamstown, the
congregation proved unable to pay ; and Thompson deeded
to them the church and the grounds.^ He set up his
' This statement depends upon the authority of one of David Thompson's
daughters, Mrs. W. R. Scott.
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INTRODUCTION Iv
sons * in business, and they failed ; and in paying off their debts,
he impoverished himself. When he removed to Longueuil, he
was still able to make a comfortable living, until his eyesight
failed him. His position then became pathetic. He was so
poor that he had to sell his instruments and even to pawn his
coat to procure food for himself and his family. In one of
his note-books, he writes : " Borrowed 2s. 6d. from a friend.
Thank God for this relief." And in another place he tells
^ Thompson had seven sons and six daughters. In the family Bible there
are inscribed in Thompson's own handwriting the following entries :
" David Thompson, born in the Westminster Parish of St. John, April 30th,
1770.
"Charlotte Small, wife of David Thompson, born September ist, 1785, at
Isle a la Crosse, married to David Thompson, June loth, 1799.
"Fanny Thompson, bom June loth, 1801. Rocky Mountain House.
"Samuel Thompson, born March 5th, 1804. Peace River Forks.
" Emma Thompson, born March, 1806. Reed Lake House.
" John Thompson, born August 25th, 1808. Boggy Hall, Saskatchewan.
"Joshua Thompson, born March 28th, 181 1. Fort Augustus.
"Henry Thompson, born July 30th, 1813. Terrebonne Village.
"John Thompson, deceased January nth, 1814, at 7 A.M. in the Village of
Terrebonne, buried in Montreal the 12th inst. No. 353. Aged 5 years and
near 5 months, a beautiful, promising boy.
"Emma Thompson, deceased Feb. 22nd, 1814, at 7.25 p.m. Aged 7 years
and near 11 months. Buried close touching her brother in Montreal. No 353.
An amiable, innocent girl, too good for this world.
" Charlotte Thompson, born 7th July, 181 5, at ii| a.m. Village of Terre-
bonne.
"Elizabeth Thompson, born 25th April, 1817, at8 p.m., at the Village of
Williamstown, River Raisin, Glengarry.
"William Thompson, born 9th November, 1819, at the Village of Williams-
town, River Raisin, Glengarry.
"Thomas Thompson, born July loth, 1822, at 4 p.m. Williamstown, Glen-
garry, Up. Canada.
"George Thompson, born 13th July, i a.m., 1824, Williamstown, Glengarry,
Up. Canada, died August 27th, 10^ A.M. Buried August 28th, 1824. Aged
7 weeks.
"Mary Thompson, born April 2, 1827, at Williamstown, 12 p.m. Glen-
garry, Up. Canada.
"Eliza Thompson, born March 4, 1829, at Williamstown, baptized by the
Rev. John Mackenzie, April 12, 1829.
" Henry Thompson, died 23 October, 1855, aged 42, buried in Mount Royal
Cemetery, Montreal."
Ivi DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of trying to sell to a gentleman his maps of Lake Superior
and his sketches of the Rocky Mountains. " He would not
purchase, but loaned me $5.00. A good relief, for I had been
a week without a penny."
Thompson died at Longueuil, on February 10, 1857, at the
ripe old age of nearly eighty-seven years. His wife survived
him by only three months ; she died on May 7 of the same
year ; and they both lie buried in Mount Royal cemetery in
Montreal, without mark or monument to show their resting-
place.
David Thompson was a man of somewhat singular appear-
ance. " He was plainly dressed, quiet and observant," wrote
the naturalist of the International Boundary Commission
with regard to his first meeting him in the year 1817.^ " His
figure was short and compact, and his black hair was worn
long all round, and cut square, as if by one stroke of the
shears, just above the eyebrows. His complexion was of the
gardener's ruddy brown, while the expression of deeply
furrowed features was friendly and intelligent, but his cut-
short nose gave him an odd look. ... I might have spared
this description of Mr. David Thompson by saying he greatly
resembled Curran, the Irish orator." Dr. Bigsby conceived
a great admiration for his colleague. " Never mind his
Bunyan-like face and cropped hair ; he has a very powerful
mind, and a singular faculty of picture-making. He can
create a wilderness and people it with warring savages, or
climb the Rocky Mountains with you in a snow storm, so
clearly and palpably, that only shut your eyes and you hear
the crack of the rifle, or feel the snow-flakes on your cheeks
as he talks."
One of Thompson's most striking characteristics was his
piety, the fruit of his early years in the Grey Coat School
in Westminster. The " thank Good Providence," with which
he so frequently concludes the account of his expeditions,
^ J. J. Bigsby, The Shoe and Canoe, vol. i. pp. 1 13-14.
INTRODUCTION Ivii
was no mere formula, but the sincere thanksgiving of a devout
man. " Our astronomer, Mr. Thompson," wrote Dr.
Bigsby,^ " was a firm churchman ; while most of our men
were Roman Catholics. Many a time have I seen these
uneducated Canadians most attentively and thankfully listen,
as they sat upon some bank of shingle, to Mr. Thompson,
while he read to them, in most extraordinarily pronounced
French, three chapters out of the Old Testament, and as
many out of the New, adding such explanations as seemed to
him suitable." Thompson's piety was not of an obtrusive
sort, but there were few white men in the West in those early
days who bore so consistently as he did the white flower of a
blameless life.
Typical of him was his attitude towards the trading of
spirituous liquors to the Indians. He was a strong opponent
of the liquor traffic ; and while he was in charge of the western
posts no alcoholic liquors were allowed to be taken to them.
The years in which Thompson was in the West were perhaps
the period in which this debasing trade was at its worst. Rival
companies were vying with each other for the furs ; and cheap
spirits were regarded by the traders as the most profitable
sort of barter. Such, however, was not Thompson's view.
He believed that the use of intoxicating liquor in trade was
a short-sighted policy ; and he gives in his own words an
amusing account of how he prevented the trade from spread-
ing during his time beyond the Rockies.
"I was obliged," he says in his account of the expedition of 1808,
" to take two kegs of alcohol, overruled by my Partners (Mess^^s Don<*
McTavish and Jo McDonald [of] Gart[h]) for I had made it a law to
myself, that no alcohol should pass the Mountains in my company, and
thus be clear of the sad sight of drunkeness, and its many evils : but these
gentlemen insisted upon alcohol being the most profitable article that
could be taken for the indian trade. In this I knew they had mis-
calculated ; accordingly when we came to the defiles of the Mountains
^ J. J. Bigsby, The Shoe and Canoe, vol. ii. pp. 205-6.
Iviii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
I placed the two Kegs of Alcohol on a vicious horse ; and by noon the
Kegs were empty, and in pieces, the Horse rubbing his load against
the Rocks to get rid of it ; I wrote to my partners what I had done ;
and that I would do the same to every Keg of Alcohol, and for the next
six years I had charge of the furr trade on the west side of the Moun-
tains, no further attempt was made to introduce spirituous Liquors."
Thus for a few years at least Thompson kept the curse of
alcoholism from debasing the Indians of southern British
Columbia, Washington, and Idaho.
It is difficult for us at this time to appreciate to its full
extent the work which Thompson did for the furtherance of
geographical knowledge on the continent of North America.
It is necessary to go back a little and to review briefly what
was known of the geography of western Canada at the time
when Thompson landed on the shore of Hudson Bay. An
idea may be obtained of the geographical knowledge that
was prevalent in the latter half of the eighteenth century by
reference to page xxv, where the books which were used in
the Grey Coat School at the time are enumerated. It is
true that geographical knowledge and progress were just
beginning to pervade the thoughts of the educated people
throughout the world, but exploration, led by Captain James
Cook and a few others, was being largely confined to the
ocean rather than to the land. Moreover, the settlements in
eastern America had carried with them a knowledge of the
geography of the country westward as far as Lake Superior
and the valley of the Mississippi, but beyond these parts the
country was still entirely in the hands of the native Indians,
Away to the north, a mining fever had induced the Hudson's
Bay Company to send a man inland from Hudson Bay to
investigate the report of an enormous copper deposit in the
vicinity of the Coppermine river, and this man, Samuel
Hearne, had made a sketch of the route which he followed.
In 1784, the year in which Thompson reached Hudson
Bay, the great map of the world accompanying the account
INTRODUCTION lix
of Cook's third voyage was published, and in that map, part
of which is reproduced in this volume, it will be seen that
almost the whole of north-western America, with the excep-
tion of that portion sketched by Hearne in his journey to the
Coppermine river, is left blank. This map represents the
very latest information in the possession of the British Govern-
ment and people, and, in fact, in the possession of the whole
civiHzed world, at that time.
Thompson had thus a large part of a new continent ready
for his work, and he must have recognised that rough sketches,
such as had undoubtedly been made by some of his com-
panions in the fur trade, were of Httle permanent value, and
that to make such a map as would be a credit to him and an
advantage to geographers in the world at large, he must first
carefully .determine the positions of some of the principal
places or natural objects in the country. In fact, he recog-
nised the true importance of a great trigonometrical survey
of the country, with some places carefully located by observa-
tions for latitude and longitude, and then with connecting
surveys made in such ways as were possible to him between
those places. Thus, from the very first, he laid his plans for
a map of the country carefully and well.
In the prosecution of the fur trade Thompson travelled
more than 50,000 miles in canoes, on horseback, and on foot
through what was then an unmapped country, and no matter
what the difhculties or dangers of the journeys might be, he
never neglected his surveys. While a good deal of this dis-
tance was made up of trips over ground that he might have
been over before, advantage was always taken to make re-
surveys and check the correctness or accuracy of previous
work. He always continued to occupy his spare time in the
winter, when he was not travelling, in taking observations and
determining with great care the positions of any places at
which he might be stopping.
He obtained a thorough knowledge of the topography of
Ix DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the whole of the country which he was able to visit. The
lengths of the rivers, the heights of the mountains, the extent
of the plains, were all alike investigated, and the results were
recorded by him. All the explorers who preceded him, and
most of those who followed him, were content to survey-
individual Hnes of travel and to be able to place these lines
in approximately their correct positions on a map, but
Thompson's ambition was to accomplish much greater results
than these, namely, to determine and delineate the physical
features of the whole of north-western America. Alexander
Mackenzie and Simon Fraser, two of the early explorers whose
work has received public recognition, devoted all their time
and energy during their exploring trips to the one object of
successfully accomplishing their explorations and surveys, and
after these explorations were completed they turned to other
work ; but Thompson was not a spasmodic explorer ; with him
surveying was his chief pleasure and life-work. During only
one year, when on his journey to the Mandan Indian villages
and to the head waters of the Mississippi river, was he able
to devote his whole time to surveying and exploring work.
During the rest of his life in the West he was merely taking
advantage of the positions in which he might be situated.
His business was the trading in furs, but he was in the middle
of unknown country, surrounded on all sides by pristine
wilderness waiting to be surveyed. In the intervals of his
trade, he was exploring, surveying, and depicting by regular
methods on the map, the features of the country in which
he was living, so that ever afterwards anyone else would be
able to form an intelligent idea of it. The excellence and
greatness of his work is accounted for largely by this systematic
continuation of surveys, practically without a break, for
twenty- three years.
His surveys were not merely rough sketches sufficient to
give some idea of the general character of the country, but
were careful traverses made by a master in the art, short
PART OF THE MAP OF THE WORLD IN COOK'S THIRD VOYAGE
Published in 1784, the year in which David Thompson landed at Fort Churchill
INTRODUCTION
Ixi
courses being taken with a magnetic compass, the variation
of which was constantly determined, distances being carefully
estimated by the time taken to travel them, and the whole
checked by numerous astronomical observations for latitude
and longitude.
His astronomical observations were made with the greatest
care, his latitudes being taken from the sun or any star or
planet which was conveniently situated at the time, while his
longitudes were usually determined by one or more observa-
tions for lunar distances. Geographers will readily appreciate
the excellence of this work by a glance at the following table
of longitudes chosen at random from the large number recorded
by him between the years 1789 and 181 2.
Place.
Thompson's Longitude.
Longitude by latest
Surveys.
Vork Factory . . ,
Cumberland House .
Kootanae House
Rocky Mountain House
Fort Augustus .
Buckingham House .
Peace River Forks .
McDonnell's House .
Saleesh House .
Spokane House
92° 29' 20"
102° 13'
115° 51' 40"
114° 52'
113° II'
110° 41'
117° 13' 14"
99° 27' 15"
115° 22' 51"
117° 27'
92° 27'
102° 16'
116° 00'
114° 57'
113° 2'
110° 45'
117° 23'
99° n'
115° 15'
117° 33'
A reduced copy of the great map which he drew is pub-
lished at the end of the present volume, and by comparing
it with the Cook map opposite page Ix some little idea may
be gained of the magnitude of the work which Thompson,
almost single-handed, accomplished in the intervals of time
that he was able to spare from his work as a fur trader.
It may seem strange that a man who has done such mag-
nificent work as was accomplished by this great geographer
should have received so little recognition. But recognition
is, or should be, founded on knowledge, and his geographical
work has remained almost unknown. The first and perhaps
Ixii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the chief reason which has contributed to the general ignor-
ance of Thompson's work was the remarkable modesty and
single-mindedness of the man himself. Self-abasement had
doubtless been taught to him in the Grey Coat School, and
his lonely life in the West had emphasized this side of his
character. He never talked much, or boasted of his own
exploits, and his writing was confined almost entirely to his
note-books, in which he entered with perfect regularity the
details of his surveys and the incidents of trade.
It is true that in his later years, when the competence
which he had accumulated in the West had disappeared, and
when he was scarcely able to get enough work to do to enable
him to provide food for his family, he wrote the account of
his life in the West which is here given ; but it was not
published.^
He was an excellent story teller, but very retiring, and the
fact that his wife was a native of the West and, like other
natives, perhaps shy and diffident, doubtless kept him from
participating in the social life of Montreal. He was hardly
the sort of man who was likely to be in his element among
the rollicking, heavy-drinking North-Westers who made
Beaver Hall Club in Montreal their headquarters.
Moreover, during the time when he was in the employ
of the Hudson's Bay Company, his note-books and maps
were turned over to the Company, and by them passed on to
Arrowsmith, the mapmaker, in London, who incorporated
them in the maps of British North America, and for this
information Arrowsmith gave the Hudson's Bay Company
credit, but nothing was said of Thompson, the man who had
made the surveys. Therefore, his work was entirely unknown
to anyone outside of the Hudson's Bay Company at that time ;
* Thompson's daughter, Mrs. Shaw, is authority for the statement that
Washington Irving endeavoured to obtain the manuscript, but that the terms or
conditions which he offered, chiefly as regards acknowledgment, were not
satisfactory, and Thompson would not give it to him.
INTRODUCTION Ixiii
and as to the Hudson's Bay Company's records themselves,
they are even yet practically closed to investigators.
After he had joined the North- West Company, he con-
tinued to hand over his sketches and the records of his surveys
to his associates, and when his great map was finally com-
pleted it was taken by them and hung on the walls of their
board-room in Fort William, where scarcely anyone but the
traders themselves was likely to see it. The information
contained in it was sent to Arrowsmith as before, but we look
in vain on any of his maps for recognition of Thompson or
his work. That some people of influence at the time recog-
nised his ability is certain, or this poor boy from a charity
school in London, who had educated himself as a surveyor
on the plains and mountains of the West, would not have been
appointed as astronomer for the British Government to run
the boundary line between the United States and British
North America. But the record of that survey was made on
maps and not in books. The people who study maps are few
compared to those who read books, and consequently, often
great maps may remain in manuscript unpublished when
even trivial books are published with profit and read with
enthusiasm.
In addition to the reasons for non-recognition inherent in
the man himself, the fur trade of the country, which was its
only tangible asset at that time, became centred in the hands
of two great Companies, and after the union of these Com-
panies in 1 82 1, in the Hudson's Bay Company alone, which
became a virtual monopoly with headquarters in London.
Private enterprise was stifled, and the people of Canada, and
in fact of the whole of North America, lost touch with a country
in which they had no commercial interest and in the trade of
which they were not allowed to participate. Thus, while
thrilling accounts of adventure in north-western America,
such as Irving's Astoria, or Ross's Fur Hunters of the Far West,
might be read with interest, regardless of location, accounts
e
Ixiv DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of work done to promote a fuller knowledge of the country
were disregarded.
After Thompson left north-western Canada, the inspira-
tion for surveying that country died completely out, except
where it was connected with the exploration of the northern
shore of the continent of America, and the determination of
the possibility of a water passage from Europe to Asia to
the north of it; and when in 1857, forty-five years after
the termination of Thompson's work, the Government of
Canada began to look westward and wanted a map of western
Canada, the very best that it could do was to repubHsh
Thompson's map of 181 3, without, however, giving him
credit for it, except by a small note in one corner ; and to
this day some parts of the maps of Canada published by the
Canadian Government, the railway companies, and others,
are taken from Thompson's map.
Thompson's maps and note-books are a lasting monument
to the work he accomplished for north-western America, and
while this monument has remained in obscurity up to the
present, the people, both of the east and west, will eventually
recognize its grandeur, and will do homage to the memory
of the man who designed and constructed it.
DAVID THOMPSON'S ITINERARY IN
NORTH-WESTERN AMERICA, 1785-1812
1785-1789
For the first five years after Thompson landed on the shores of
Hudson Bay, he spent his time chiefly at Churchill and York Factories
and on the Saskatchewan river ; and during this period he appears to
have travelled about tviro thousand miles, though he had not yet begun
to make surveys of any of the routes which he followed. In 1785 he
made the journey from Churchill to York Factory along the shores of
Hudson Bay ; in 1786 he ascended the Hayes and Saskatchewan rivers
from York Factory past Cumberland and Hudson Houses to Manchester
House. From there he made a journey south-westward across the
great plains to a camp of the Piegan on the banks of Bow river, where
he spent a winter (1787-88 ?), returning to Manchester House in the
following year. About 1788 he seems to have returned to Hudson's
House ; and from Hudson's House he travelled in 1789 to Cumberland
House, in Pine Island lake, one of the expansions of the Saskatchewan
river. It was here, in the winter of 1789-90, that he began his life-
work as a surveyor by taking a large number of astronomical observations.
By these observations he determined the exact position of Cumberland
House on the surface of the globe, so that no matter how hastily his
surveys of the surrounding country might be made, he had that as a
definite fixed position to which to refer.
1790
In the spring of 1790 he was ordered to accompany the fur brigade
to York Factory ; and on June 9 he left Cumberland House, and
began the survey from there down the Saskatchewan river to its
mouth, which was reached on June 15. Thence he proceeded along
the north shore of Great Lake (Lake Winnipeg) through Playgreen
(Buscuscoggan) lake, and from there by the regular water route
Ixv
Ixvi DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
through Holy (Oxford) lake, Trout river, Knee and Swampy lakes,
and Hayes river to York Factory. After staying a while at York
Factory he returned to Cumberland House, doubtless by the same
route (for he did not make another survey), and wintered there.
1791
In the summer of 1791 he again descended to York Factory, and
here he spent the following year.
1792
On September 5, 1792, he left York Factory with two canoes,
descended Hayes river, rounded the point in Hudson Bay, and
ascended the Nelson river, making a survey of the route as he went.
On September 28 he reached Split lake, and on September 30 the
" Saskatchewan River." ^ A little farther up stream William Cook
with one of the canoes turned up Grass river to Chatham House on
Wintering lake, but Thompson with the other canoe kept on up the
main stream, and on October 8 arrived at a rocky point on the west
side of Sipiwesk lake, where he built a trading post.^ During the
winter he took no less than twenty-eight lunar observations for longi-
tude. However, this proved to be a poor place for either fish or
game, and on several occasions he was obliged to go to Chatham
House, which was only about thirty miles away, and seek provisions
from his friend William Cook.
1793
In the following spring, when the river was clear of ice, he started
from Seepaywisk House, and descended to the lower end of the lake,
^ In applying the name "Saskatchewan River" to that portion of the
Nelson river above Split river, Thompson was doubtless following the usage
of the natives and employees of the Hudson's Bay Company of that time.
There is ground for believing that the name Saskatchewan was originally
applied to that portion of the Nelson river which flows from Lake Winnipeg
to Split lake, rather than to the great river above Lake Winnipeg to which
the name is now applied.
* The place where "Seepaywisk House" appears to have stood is now
covered with a grove of poplars, with a forest of spruce in the background.
Two rocky points project into the lake and form a snug little harbour for
small boats. Looking towards the south-west, Sipiwesk lake, dotted with dark
green islands, extends away to the distant horizon.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixvii
carried over Cross Portage, surveyed Susquagemow (Landing) lake,*
carried over Thicket Portage, and entered Chatham (Wintering) lake,
where, on a long point extending northw^ard into the lake, the Com-
pany had a post. After three days spent here he resumed his journey,
first across the rest of Wintering lake, then over two portages, two-
thirds of a mile and a mile and a quarter long respectively, to McKay's
(Paint) lake, now known as Manuminan or (Red) Paint lake, and
thence across into Pipe lake and up Weepiskow (Burntwood) river,
and through Wuskwatim and Burntwood lakes. From Burntwood
river he carried his canoe across Duck Portage into Missinipi
(Churchill) river, which he ascended for thirty-three miles, intending
to proceed to Reindeer lake. He was, however, unable to find the
Indians whom he expected to meet, and in latitude 55° 25' 20" N.,
longitude 102° 10' \cf W., he turned back and made his way down
the Burntwood and Nelson rivers to York Factory, where he arrived
on July 21. During this journey he had discovered, and determined
the positions of, three settlements of the Canadian traders, kept respec-
tively by McKay, Baldwin, and White (Wabiscow), and he had found
a route which was short and easy compared to that used by the
Canadian traders by which to bring in supplies to oppose them. His
journal contains minute descriptions of all parts of this route, with the
lengths and positions of the portages, how to approach or depart from
them with canoes, how and where the rapids should be run, and so forth.
After stopping a few weeks at the headquarters of the Hudson's
Bay Company on the shore of Hudson Bay, the energetic young sur-
veyor set off once more. By the Hayes river route he ascended again
to the Saskatchewan river, and arrived on October 5 at his old home
at Cumberland House. On the 8th he left Cumberland House,
and continued the ascent of the Saskatchewan. On the 15th he
reached the Forks, where he turned up the south branch, and after
three days' travel he reached South Branch House,^ situated somewhere
^ The Cree name for this lake is Suskiskwegimew Sakahigan, translated as
Where-the-Sturgeon-put-their-heads-against-the-Rock lake. This is the lake
called by Jeremie, who was in charge of Fort Bourbon in 1714, Anisquaoui-
gamou, although the meaning given by him for the Indian word is incorrect.
* It does not appear when this trading post was founded, but it was visited
by Thompson on October 18, 1793. On June 24, 1794, according to the
journal of Peter Fidler, who was at York Factory at the time, it was plundered
and burnt by the Fall Indians who had plundered Manchester House the
previous autumn. There were nine people in the fort at the time. Of these,
Ixviii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
near Gardepui's Crossing, east of Duck lake. Here he took horses,
and reached Manchester House, his former home on the North
Saskatchewan, on October 28, and Buckingham House on October 31,
the latter situated on the north side of the North Saskatchewan, in
latitude 53** 52' 7* N. In the immediate vicinity was a new post of
the North-West Company, called Fort George, which had been built
by Angus Shaw the previous year, and which was then in charge of
Angus Shaw and John McDonald of Garth.
While Thompson travelled on horseback, the boats with their
cargoes continued up the stream, but unfortunately the winter set in
early that year, and they were caught in the ice near the site of the
present town of Battleford, and were obliged to transport the goods on
horseback the rest of the way to Buckingham House.
From Buckingham House Thompson rode out to the Beaver hills,
near where Fort Augustus was afterwards built, and returned to Buck-
ingham House on November 29. Here he spent the winter, keep-
ing, as usual, a meteorological register, taking observations for longitude
and latitude, and working out his former traverses by latitude and
departure.
1794
On May 16, 1794, he started down stream to York Factory.
The river from Buckingham House to the Forks had not yet been
surveyed, therefore he surveyed that portion of it, and continued on
making a resurvey of the rest of the river. Manchester House was
passed on the evening of May 18, and on May 22 he reached
what he calls the Lower Crossing, a place which his observation for
three men, Magnus Annel, Hugh Brough, and William Fea, one woman and
two children were murdered ; two young women were carried away as slaves ;
and one man named Vandereil escaped by concealing himself in an old cellar,
and reached York Factory with the news of the massacre on August 11. The
North- West Company had a post about one thousand yards away, which the
Indians attacked, but from which they were beaten off with a loss of fourteen
killed and wounded. After this, however, the post was abandoned, and the
men went down the river to some place on the Saskatchewan below the Forks.
Later, in 1804, the post was rebuilt at a place six miles above its former site,
after the abandonment of Chesterfield House, which was at the Forks of the
Red Deer and Bow rivers still farther up the same river. Daniel Harmon
was at this post for the North- West Company in 1805, and Joseph Howse for
the Hudson's Bay Company in 1806-7. Peter Fidler puts it in latitude 52° 53'
N ., which would be near Gardepui's Crossing.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixix
latitude places in Section i8, Tp. 46, Range 3, west of the Third
Principle Meridian, near the village of Silver Grove. From here
William Tomison, who was probably^ now in charge of this brigade of
canoes, rode over to South Branch House. Two places of the name
of Hudson's House Were then passed, the loWer of the two being
Tomison's old home.^ On May 27 the mouth of the South Branch
was reached, and next day Thompson seems to have passed the site of
Fort k la Come, which was not occupied at that time, without noticing
it ; for the first place he mentions is Isaac's House, 38' of longitude
east of the Forks, which would place it somewhere in Range 17 west
of the Second Meridian. Nine and three-quarter miles below it was
the Canadian post at the ''Nepoin," kept by Porter and McLeod.
Still lower down the river was " Hungry Hall," where Ross and
Thoburn had lived in 1792-93, doubtless at Tobin Rapids, which is
about fourteen miles above Sturgeon t-iver.^
On June 2 he arrived at Cumberland House. But instead of
returning to the Saskatchewan by Tearing river, and proceeding
thence by the regular route through Lake Winnipeg to York Factory,
he turned north-eastward through his old trading ground, and paddled
through Namew or Sturgeon lake, up Goose river to Goose lake,
and thence into Athapapuskow lake. On the east side of this
lake he left the waters which flow southward to the Saskatchewan,
and crossed Cranberry Portage, a level portage of two thousand six
hundred and seventy-five paces, which, when visited by the writer
in the fall of 1896, was beautifully dry throughout its length. From
^ These two houses, referred to respectively as Upper and Lower Hudson's
House, are shown by Thompson's survey to have been situated on the north-
west bank of the river about fifteen miles apart. The upper post was estab-
lished by Philip Tumor for the Hudson's Bay Company, about 1776, as an
outpost from Cumberland House, and was then the uppermost settlement on the
Saskatchewan river. In the Introduction to Captain Cook's Third Voyage,
it is stated, apparently on Tumor's authority, to have been in latitude 53° o'
32" N. This agrees closely with Thompson's survey, and places it in
Section 32, Tp. 46, Range 3, west of the Third Meridian, about four miles
north of Silver Grove, Saskatchewan. Lower Hudson's House, which was
built at a later date, apparently by Tomison, was situated fifteen miles
farther down the river three or four miles below a place now known as Yellow
Banks, opposite the mouth of Steep Creek. Here Thompson had spent the
winter of 1788-89.
^ Alexander Henry, ascending this river in 1808, speaks of "an old estab-
lishment, abandoned n^any years ago," just above " Grand" (Tobin) Rapids.
Ixx DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the portage he crossed Cranberry lake, descended the Elbow river
to Ithenootosequan or Elbow lake, and thence went on down Grass
river, between barren, rocky hills, to Reed lake. Here he left Ross
to build a trading post, and himself continued down Crooked and
File rivers to Burntwood lake, noting on the way two places which
had been occupied respectively by the traders from Churchill and by
Robert Thompson during the previous winter. Thence he followed
his route of the previous spring down the Burntwood and Nelson
rivers to York Factory. He arrived at the latter place on July 5,
and remained there twenty-one days. Then he turned back, and
travelling up Nelson and Grass rivers, reached Reed Lake House on
Reed lake on September 2. Here, in the midst of an excellent
country for fish, game, and fur-bearing animals, he spent the winter
of 1794-95, and during the intervals of an active fur trade, he took
forty-six lunar distance observations for longitude.
1795
This year, in company with Malcolm Ross, Thompson arrived at
York Factory on July 5 with three large and two small canoes. On
July 1 8, he and Ross left York Factory and ascended the Nelson river.
On September 6, they arrived at Duck Portage at the west end of Sisipuk
lake, which is one of the expansions of the Churchill river. Here
they decided to divide the goods they had brought for trade, Ross going
on with two large canoes and one small canoe to a point a mile below
the mouth of Reindeer river, where he built a house named by him
Fairford House, Thompson with four men built a trading post on the
south side of Duck Portage. His observations place it in latitude
55° 40' 30" N., and longitude 102° 7' 37" W,, a position practically
identical with that which it occupies on the most recent maps. He
had hardly got his house built when a Canadian arrived with six Indians
in a large canoe, and built a house thirty yards to the eastward.
1796
On January 12, 1796, George Charles with five men from Churchill
called with the ostensible object of seeing if it were possible to collect
some debts that were owed to them by the Indians, and when Charles
departed two days later for Three Point lake he left three men behind
for the winter. Thus Thompson had not only to compete with the
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixxi
Canadians from Montreal, but he had also to compete in trade with
other employees of the Hudson's Bay Company from Churchill, who
were not under the authority of the Council at York. The remainder
of the winter seems to have been rather uneventful, broken only by
visits from employees of the Company from Reed lake, Fairford
House, and Three Point lake.
In the spring Thompson first made a survey eastward to the
mouth of the Kississing river. Then, after returning to Duck
Portage House, he ascended and surveyed the Churchill river to
Fairford House, a mile below the mouth of Reindeer river. Here
he obtained, with difficulty, two Indian canoemen, and on June lO
started to make a survey northward through Reindeer and Wollaston
lakes, and down Black river to the east end of Lake Athabaska ; but
the account of this survey need not be repeated here, as it will be
found in full in Thompson's own words on pages 133-53. That
autumn Thompson returned to Reindeer lake, and spent the winter
of 1796-97 with Malcolm Ross at a post which he called Bedford
House, on the west side of that lake.
1797
On May 28, 1797, having decided to sever his connection with
the Hudson's Bay Company, Thompson arrived on foot at the house
of Alexander Fraser, at the head of the Reindeer river,^ and took
employment with the North-West Company. On June 7, after
having been hospitably entertained by the North-West Company's
agent, he set out for Cumberland House, and reached it on June 23.
After a stay of four days here, he set out once more, reached Lake
Winnipeg on June 28, and travelling by way of Winnipeg river,
arrived at Grand Portage, Lake Superior, on July 22, having as
usual made a survey of his route.
On August 9 he set out from Grand Portage on one of his most
remarkable journeys. In company with Hugh McGillis, he descended
Rainy river, passing a fort half a mile below the Falls on the 2ist,
and went on through Rainy lake and Lake of the Woods. From this
lake he descended Winnipeg river, and on September i he reached
1 No sign of this old trading post could be found when I passed through
the lake in 1894; but Thompson states that it was in latitude 56° 20' 22" N.,
which would place it on Big Island a little north of the present outpost of
the Hudson's Bay Company, or on the mainland opposite this island.
Ixxii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Lftke Winnipeg. He crossed this lake, ascended the Dauphin river,
crossed Lake Manito (Manitoba), and reached Lake Winnipegosis
by way of the Meadow Portage. On September 17, being camped
a mile and a half north of the Little Dauphin (Mossy) river, the
party received provisions from Fort Dauphin, on or near Dauphin
lake.^ They then proceeded northward up the west shore of Lake
^ Fort Dauphin was one of the oldest trading posts in the North-West.
Its position was changed from time to time, although it was always in the
good hunting ground in the vicinity of Dauphin lake. It was first built on
the Mossy river in the autumn of 1741, by Pierre, one of the sons of the
Sieur de la Vdrendrye, who had travelled northward from Fort la Reine
(Portage la Prairie), across Prairie Portage into Lake Manitoba, and thence
by Lake Winnipegosis into Mossy river. Bougainville states that it was
eighty leagues from La Reine on the river Minanghenachequek^, which is
the present Indian name for Mossy river. Harmon, in his Journal, p. 52,
speaks of "the establishment at the entrance of the River Dauphin, which
falls into the west end of this [Winnepegosis] lake. At that place a French
missionary resided before the British obtained possession of Canada. He
remained there but a short time." In 1889, I found the cellars and ruins
of an old trading post on the east bank of the Mossy river, three-quarters
of a mile above its mouth, on a narrow strip of grassy land between the forest
and the river. The site was probably built upon several times ; but possibly
the first house erected here was that of Pierre de la Verendrye. Peter Pond,
who appears to have been the first Englishman to occupy a fort of this name
after the place was abandoned by the French, gives the location of the post
occupied by him in 1775, at the north-west angle of Lake Dauphin. (See
Peter Pond's map of 1790, Can. Arch. Report, 1890, p. 53.) But I could find
no trace of the existence of a house at that place.
When Thompson was at the mouth of Mossy river in 1797, Fort Dauphin
was evidently a supply depot for provisions. The post was not then, however,,
at the mouth of Mossy river, for it took four days for the canoes to go from
Meadow Portage to the mouth of Mossy river, a distance of thirteen miles,
thence to the trading post, and back to the mouth of the river. Thompson
was never on Lake Dauphin, but his map shows it as lying east and west, and
the post of the North-West Company appears on a stream flowing into the
lake on its southern side. The lake lies north-west and south-east, and the
south-western sides of all these lakes were commonly spoken of by travellers
as their southern sides, the error being in large part accounted for by the
considerable variation of the magnetic needle. The largest stream flowing
into the south-west side of the lake is Valley river ; and in all probability the
house visited by Thompson's men in 1797 must be identified with the remains
of an old post on the south side of Valley river a few miles above its mouth,
and about two miles in a straight line back from the lake.
Ruins of another trading post of a later date, belonging to the Hudson's
Bay Company, exist in the poplar forest on the west side of the lake eight
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixxiii
Winnipegosis. On September 19, McGillis left to go up the Red
Deer river, whereas Thompson stopped at the mouth of Shoal river.
He ascended this river, passed through Swan lake, and ascended
Swan river for four miles and three-quarters to Swan River House,
on the north bank of the stream, in latitude 52° 24' 5" N.^
Horses were then in common use in the Swan river valley, and
after resting a day at the post, Thompson and Cuthbert Grant
borrowed two horses from Thomas Swain of the Hudson's Bay
Company, and started up the valley on a trail which ran for most of
the distance along the north side of the river. On the second day
they crossed to the south side of Swan river, and rode six miles to
a house kept by one Belleau in a " hummock of pines " on the bank
of Snake Creek, almost on the present line of the Second Principal
Meridian, and about six miles north of Fort Pelly. From here he
turned southward, and continued his survey past the post of the
Hudson's Bay Company at the Elbow of the Assiniboine river to the
house of Cuthbert Grant, which was situated in Tp. 28, Range 31,
south-west of the present village of Runnymede on the Canadian
Northern Railway.^ Here he remained till October 14, when he
returned to Belleau's House on Snake Creek, in order, if possible, to
obtain guides to take him up the Swan river, across the watershed
to Red Deer river, and thence around to the head waters of the
Assiniboine river. From this date to November 28 his journal was
lost, but he states, "I surveyed the Stone Indian [Assiniboine] River
upward, and its sources, and the Red Deer River and its sources, and
miles south of the mouth of Valley river. Alexander Murray is said to
have traded here in the late seventies. The ruins of yet another house of the
Hudson's Bay Company, which was only used as a winter post for a short
time in the seventies, is to be seen at the south-east angle of the lake.
^ As Harmon, who arrived here three years later, points out in his Journal ^
this post is twelve miles up the river from its mouth ; and this is where it is
placed on J. B. Tyrrell's map of North-Western Manitoba (1891), published by
the Geological Survey of Canada. The house was in a grove of poplar ; and
half a mile farther west was the Dog Knoll, where the men used to move
the stores in times of flood. A couple of miles higher up the river, and
twenty-five paces back of it on the north side, where the banks are fifteen feet
high, is the position of a post of the Hudson's Bay Company.
* In 1890 the remains of an old establishment were to be seen in the south-
west quarter. Section 14, Tp. 28, R. 31, west of the First Meridian, five hundred
paces east of the bank of the river, and fifty paces from the foot of the side of
the valley, at the mouth of a dry ravine.
Ixxiv DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
from thence returned to the house of Mr. Cuthbert Grant, at the
Brooks, on the Stone Indian River." He gives in his journal, how-
ever, traverses worked out by latitude and departure which show his
course to have been from Belleau's House to the Upper House on Red
Deer river, in latitude 52° 47' 44" N.* From here he turned south-
westward, and continued his survey to the "Upper House on Stone
Indian River," afterwards known as Alexandria, where Daniel Harmon
spent the years 1800- 1805.* From Alexandria he travelled down the
river to the Elbow, and thence to Cuthbert Grant*s House. From
there he continued southward to Thorburn's House on the Qu' Appelle
river, a few miles above its mouth, in latitude 50° 28' 57" N., and
thence to McDonnell's House a mile and a half above the mouth of
the Souris river.
The winter had by this time set in, when travelling on the open
plains was unpleasant and dangerous, but Thompson was anxious to
find out the exact positions of those Indian villages on the Missouri
where the people lived by the cultivation of corn as well as by hunting
the buffalo. With this object in view, and with the hope also that
some of these Indians might be induced to establish a regular trade
with the North- West Company, he set out from McDonnell's (Assini-
boine) House, on November 28, with nine men, a few horses, and
thirty dogs, and started south-westward across the plain. On Decem-
ber 7 he reached Old Ash House on the Souris river, "settled
two years ago and abandoned the following spring " ; and here, having
been unable to procure a guide for the rest of the journey, he was
himself compelled to assume the lead. By way of Turtle Mountain,
he struck across the plains until he again reached the Souris river,
^ Thompson's map shows this house to have been on the north bank of the
Red Deer river. It was probably opposite the mouth of the Etoimami river,
between three and four miles south of Hudson Bay Junction on the Canadian
Northern Railway, where the ruins of two old houses were to be seen in 1889.
This post is probably the one referred to as Fort La Biche on Pond's map of
1790, though there it is wrongly placed on the Swan river. It was doubtless
one of the oldest trading posts south of the Saskatchewan river and west of
the Manitoba lakes ; the only other posts designated on this map being Fort
Dauphin on Lake Dauphin, and Fort Epinette on the Assiniboine river.
* See Harmon's y<7«r«a/, p. 59. Thompson's map places this post on the
west side of the Assiniboine river in latitude 51° 46' 58" N., which would place
it in Section 27, Tp. 32, R. 3, west of the Second Meridian. Peter Fidler had
spent the winter of 1795-96 in an adjoining house belonging to the Hudson's
Bay Company, which was called by him Charlton House.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixxv
which he followed up to its " bight " ; thence he crossed the plains,
a distance of thirty-seven miles, to the Missouri river, reaching it on
December 29 at a point six miles above the upper of the Mandan
villages. At these villages, which were five in number, he remained
until January 10, trying to induce the Indians to come north to
trade, but with very little success, as they were afraid of the Sioux.
While here, he wrote down a vocabulary of the Mandan language,
containing about three hundred and seventy-five words.
1798
He left the Mandan villages on January 10, 1798, but being
delayed by severe storms, did not reach the Souris river until
January 24, and he did not arrive at McDonnell's House at the mouth
of Souris river until February 3. The account of this journey is
given in his own words on pages 209—42. At Souris River Post
he remained until February 26, making up his notes and plans, and
preparing himself for a longer trip, this time on foot, to connect the
waters of the Red and Mississippi rivers, and thence onward to
Lake Superior, a trip which his companions ridiculed as being im-
possible to accomplish before the advent of summer. On February 26,
however, he started out on foot with a dog team, and followed the
course of the Assiniboine eastward to its mouth, making as usual a
survey of his route ; and passing on his way Pine Fort and Poplar
House, both of which had been abandoned, and some houses a little
below the Meadow Portage to Lake Manitoba. On March 7 he
reached the Forks of the Assiniboine and Red rivers, the site of the
present city of Winnipeg, though no mention is made of any habita-
tion there at that time. Travelling on the ice, he turned up the
latter stream, and on the second day reached Chaboillez's old house
of the North-West Company, a quarter of a mile up Rat Creek above
its mouth, in latitude 49° 33' S^" N., a few miles west of Niverville,
on the Emerson branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
On March 14 he crossed the boundary line into the United
States, and reached the house of Charles Chaboillez at the mouth
of Summerberry or Pembina river, in latitude 48° 58' 29" N., on the
site of the present town of Pembina in North Dakota. After a week
spent here, he proceeded up Red river, passing the house of the
North-West Company kept by a trader named Roy, at the mouth of
Salt river, and then ascended Red Lake river to the mouth of Clear
Ixxvi DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
river, where there was a North-West Company's house kept by
Baptiste Cadotte, in latitude 47° 54' 21" N., close to the present site of
Red Lake Falls. He reached this house on March 24, and at once
endeavoured to proceed eastward on foot, but was obliged to return
and wait for the breaking up of the ice, as " the snow thawing made
the open country like a lake of open water." On April 9 he made
a fresh start from Cadotte's House, this time in a canoe with three
men. He ascended Clear river for six days, carried across to Red
Lake river, and ascended Red Lake river to Red lake, which he
reached at a point in latitude 47° 58' 15" N.
The lake was still covered with ice, but after waiting for three days
he was able to force his canoe southward for two miles between the
ice and the shore to an old house which had been occupied by Cadotte
the previous winter. Here, farther progress by water being impos-
sible, he built a sled, and putting the canoe and all the baggage of the
party on it, he harnessed himself and men in front of it, and hauled
it for fifteen miles across the ice of the lake to a portage six miles in
length, which was crossed the following day to a small brook ; after
which he wound his way through small lakes and brooks, and walked
over short portages till, on April 27, he arrived at Turtle lake, from
which flows " Turtle Brook." This lake was pronounced by Thomp-
son to be the source of the Mississippi. A generation later it was
discovered that the Mississippi took its rise in Itasca lake, a few miles
farther south. But the two lakes are so near together that it may be
■said that to this indefatigable, but hitherto almost unknown, geographer
belongs the virtual credit of discovering the head-waters of this great
river.
From Turtle lake Thompson descended Turtle Brook to Red
Cedar (Cass) lake, on which there was a North- West Company's
house, kept by John Sayer, which he places in latitude 47° 27'
56" N. and longitude 95° W. He remained here from April 29 to
May 3 ; then he again embarked and struck across to the Mississippi
river, down which he travelled through " Winnipegoos " (Winnibi-
goshish) lake to the mouth of Sand Lake river. Here he left the
main stream of the Mississippi, and turned up Sand Lake river to
Sand lake (Sandy lake in Aitkin county), on which was a house
belonging to the North- West Company, a mile and a quarter east
from the head of the river, in latitude 46° 46' 39" N. From this
house he crossed the lake to the mouth of Savannah Brook, which he
followed up to the Savannah Carrying Place, a deep bog four miles
ITINERARY IN N,^W. AMERICA Ixxvii
across. He crossed this portage to a small creek that flows into the
St. Louis river, and descended the latter stream to Fond du Lac
House, in latitude 46° 44' 2" N., three miles up the river from Lake
Superior. He reached this post on May 10, two months and eighteen
days after leaving the mouth of the Souris river. From here he
surveyed the south shore of Lake Superior ; and on May 20 he
arrived at the Falls of Ste. Marie. On June i he left Sault Ste.
Marie in a light canoe with eleven men, in company with Messrs.
Mackenzie, McLeod, and Stuart, and reached Grand Portage on
June 7. The time was a busy one at this the central post of the
North- West Company, and in his journal Thompson gives a very in-
teresting account of the men who were almost daily arriving from, and
departing for, many widely separated posts throughout the west.
On July 14 he started once more for the interior with the
English (Churchill) river brigade, and after passing Fort Charlotte,
Rainy Lake House, and Rat Portage, he arrived at "Winnipeg
House," 1 at the mouth of the Winnipeg river, on July 31. Having
travelled along the east shore of Lake Winnipeg, he reached the mouth
of the Saskatchewan on August 9, and on August 18 Cumberland
House, where Peter Fidler was in charge at the English (Hudson's
Bay Company) House, and Primo was in charge of the post of the
North- West Company. On August 19 he left here, his destination
being Lake La Biche, or Red Deer lake. Ascending the Sturgeon-
weir river, and passing through Amisk lake, he reached Missinipi
(Churchill) river by way of the Frog Portage on August 24,
ascended Churchill river to the mouth of the Rapid river where
there was a house occupied at the time by " Roy, a Canadian, all
alone," and up this stream to Lake La Ronge, on which was the site
of an old post where Simon Eraser had wintered in 1795-96. He
then returned to Churchill river, and a mile above the mouth of Rapid
river found a house on the north bank which the men of the Hudson's
Bay Company had recently abandoned. He continued to ascend the
1 This house, called also Fort Alexander and Bas de la Riviere, is said
by Roderick Mackenzie to have been established in 1792 by Toussaint
Lesieur a few miles below and opposite the old French Fort Maurepas.
Gabriel Franch^re, who passed the place in 1814, wrote : "This trading post
had more the air of a large and well-cultivated farm, than a fur traders' factory ;
a neat and elegant mansion, built on a slight eminence, and surrounded with
barns, stables, storehouses, &c., and by fields of barley, peas, oats, and potatoes."
The site is still occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company.
Ixxviii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
river to Isle a la Crosse lake. On September 6 he reached the " new
fort of the North- West Company's " ^ at the southern end of the lake,
in latitude 56° 26' 15" N., three-quarters of a mile north-east of the old
settlement which had been visited by Turnor several years before.
Here he left goods for Alexander McKay, who was in charge of the
post, and on September 8 he began the ascent of Beaver river, and con-
tinued south to the trading post on Green lake, in latitude 54° 17' 9"N.,
on the east side of the lake, near its north end. At Green Lake
House he left his canoes to proceed up Beaver river, while he himself
took horses and struck across the country a little south of west to Fort
George, on the Saskatchewan river, close to the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's post at Buckingham House, where he had wintered in 1793-94.
After a delay of three or four days at this place, he turned north-
westward to Beaver river, which he reached at the mouth of Moose
Creek in latitude 54° 22' 14" N., whence with great difficulty he ascended
Beaver river and Red Deer Brook to Red Deer lake (Lake La Biche),
where he built a house ^ in latitude 54° 46' 32" N. At this house he
remained for the winter, trading with the Indians and taking astro-
nomical observations.
1799
Some time between the middle and end of March 1799, he left
Lake La Biche for Fort Augustus, which at this time was situated on
the north bank of the North Saskatchewan river, a mile and a half
above the mouth of Sturgeon river, within the present settlement of
Fort Saskatchewan. This post he places in latitude 53° 44' 52" N.
and longitude 113° ii' W., a mile east of its true position. It had
been built four or five years before in order to secure the trade with
the Blackfeet. After staying here about two weeks, he set out on
April 19, with three horses and five men, and travelling north-westward,
reached the Pembina river on the evening of the 21st, in latitude
^ The position now occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company post of Isle
a la Crosse is at the bottom of a little bay opening eastward near the south
end of the lake. A little farther north is the site of a former post of the
Hudson's Bay Company ; and two other sites, one of which is said to have
been occupied by the North-West Company, are on the point still farther
north. On Thompson's map the post of the North-West Company is marked
on the point north of the arm of the lake which stretches westward, toward
Buffalo lake; but its exact position is not known.
* A post had previously been built by Angus Shaw on this lake in 1789.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixxix
54° 15' 4" N., near where it crosses the Fifth Meridian. Here a canoe
had been built for him ; so, sending back the horses, he started down
the river, and reached its mouth on Athabaska river on April 25.
He surveyed this stream down to the mouth of Lesser Slave Lake
river ; then he turned into this stream, and surveyed it up to Lesser
Slave lake ; and having returned thence, he continued down the
Athabaska river to the new post at the mouth of the Clearwater, where
Fort McMurray now stands. On May 10, after remaining at this
post for a few days, he continued his survey, this time up the " Methy
Portage " (Clearwater) river, crossed the Methy Portage, and de-
scended the Churchill river through Buffalo lake to Isle a la Crosse
lake, which he reached on May 20. Thence he proceeded direct
to Grand Portage. From Grand Portage he accompanied John
McDonald of Garth westward up the Saskatchewan river to Fort
George, which was found to be in a ruinous condition ; and here he
spent the winter.
1800
In the spring of 1800 Thompson made an expedition on horse-
back from Fort George to Fort Augustus, and thence to Rocky
Mountain House. On May 5 he embarked at Rocky Mountain
House on the North Saskatchewan river, and made a survey of it to
" The Elbow." On May 7 he " found the English [Hudson's Bay
Company] encamped for building " at the mouth of a creek flowing
in from the right, which he calls Sturgeon Creek (Buck Lake Creek),
and on the same evening he reached White Mud House, where a clerk
named Hughes was in charge for the North- West Company. This
post was situated on the north bank in Section 30, Tp. 51, Range 2,
west of the Fifth Meridian. On May 9 he reached Fort Augustus,
and on May 12 Fort George, having passed a few miles above it what
he designates as "Isle of Scotland, North- West Company, 1800 and
1 801," apparently the island now known as Fort island, in Section I2>
Tp. 55, R. 8, west of the Fourth Meridian.
On May 18 he again left Fort George, and on May 20 passed
Umfreville's old house, in Section 4, Tp. 53, R. 25, west of the Third
Meridian, where this trader had spent the winters of 1784-8. On
May 21 he passed Island House, a mile and a half above the mouth of
Birch Brook, near Manchester House of the Hudson's Bay Company ;
and on May 22, Turtle River House, a mile and a half below the
mouth of Turtle Brook, evidently in Section 4, Tp. 46, R. 18, west
/
Ixxx DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of the Third Meridian. Alexander Henry the younger describes this
house as situated on a low bottom on the south side of the river. On
May 28 Thompson camped at the Forks, and on June 7 he arrived at
the mouth of the Saskatchewan. His note-books give no further record
of his proceedings that summer, but a summary in his own handwriting
states that he continued east to Grand Portage, and returned to Rocky
Mountain House. He adds that " Mr. Duncan McGillivray came
and wintered also, to prepare to cross the mountains."
From Rocky Mountain House Thompson set out on horseback,
with five men and three pack-horses, on October 5. He travelled
up the Clearwater river, and over to the Red Deer river, which he
ascended till he reached the mouth of William Creek, a small brook
in latitude 51° 41' 41" N., longitude 114° 56' 40" W. There, in a
camp of Piegan Indians, he remained for a few days, and from there he
rode twenty-two miles west to the foot of the mountains to meet a band
of Kutenai, consisting of twenty-six men and seven women, who had
crossed the mountain in the hope of being able to reach his trading
post. He returned at once with them, in order to encourage them to
proceed, for the Piegan did their utmost to hinder and annoy them.
When they were ready to return to their own country west of the
mountains, he sent La Gassi and Le Blanc along to spend the following
winter with them. The route which they took, in order to avoid the
Piegan, was up the north side of the Saskatchewan river. These
two men. La Gassi and Le Blanc, were therefore in all probability the
first white men to cross the mountains at the head of the Saskatchewan
to the upper waters of the Columbia river.
On November 17, accompanied by Duncan McGillivray, and
attended by four men, he set out on horseback along the trail up
Clearwater river, crossed Red Deer river, and reached Bow river at
a point opposite to where the town of Calgary now stands, in latitude
51° 2' 56" N., longitude 113° 59' W. From here he surveyed the
north-east side of the river down to a short distance below the bend,
where he crossed it and went on to the Spitchee or Highwood river,
which he reached two miles above its mouth. From here he turned
a little west of south, and reached a camp of the Pikenows, or Piegan,
in latitude 50° 35' 30" N., probably on Tongue Flag Creek. After
stopping here for a short time in order to establish friendly relations
with these Indians, he turned north-westward and again reached Bow
river at a point which he places in latitude 51° 13' 57" N., longitude
114° 48' 22" W., a short distance above the mouth of Ghost river.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixxxi
From here he followed the Bow river upwards, on its south bank for
three miles, and then fording the stream he followed the trail on its
north bank to the steep cliffs of the mountains near where the town
of Exshaw is now situated.^ Thence he returned to his old camp on
the Bow river, and, crossing the stream, struck northward to Rocky
Mountain House, which he reached on December 3.
During the same year Duncan McGillivray made a traverse west-
ward from Rocky Mountain House, at first up the north side of the
North Saskatchewan river for eight miles, thence across country to
Brazeau river and up it to Brazeau lake, three miles beyond which
he " proceeded to cross the Chain of Mountains that separates the
sources of the North Branch (Brazeau) and the Athabaska River."
Continuing still farther westward, he travelled four miles down a stream
flowing towards the west into Athabaska river, from which point he
returned to Rocky Mountain House. His traverse is carefully laid
down in Thompson's note-book.
1801
During the winter of 1800-1801, Thompson remained at Rocky
Mountain House, trading with the Indians, working out old observa-
tions and taking new ones, although the last record to be found for
the winter is dated March 18.
In June Thompson made "a journey into the Rocky Mountains
by land," which is to be found in his note-books worked out by
latitude and departure. Accompanied by Hughes and seven men
and an Indian guide, he followed the Saskatchewan up to a point
twenty-eight miles above Rocky Mountain House, measured in a
straight line. Here he left the main river and struck southward up the
valley of Sheep river to its source in one of the eastern ranges of the
Rocky Mountains. At this point it was found impossible to take the
^ Near this point, McGillivray killed and preserved a mountain sheep, which
about three years later formed the basis of three names — Ovis canadensis
Shaw, Ovis cervina Desmarest, and " belier de montagne " of Geofifroy (later
latinized as Ovis montana by Cuvier). Although wild sheep had long been
known to inhabit North America, this specimen was the first to reach the
hands of systematic naturalists. Curiously enough, the two names first men-
tioned were published so nearly at the same time that the question of priority
has been the subject even within the past few years of considerable controversy.
Though the evidence is not absolutely conclusive, the name cattadensis seems
best entitled to recognition. The important matter in the present connection,
however, is the locality from which the type came. [E. A. P.]
Ixxxii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
horses further ; and, as the guide knew of no other pass, the party
returned to the Saskatchewan river. An effort was made to ascend
the stream in a canoe ; but the river was in flood, and it proved
impossible to stem the current. The attempt to cross the mountains
was therefore abandoned for the time ; and the party returned to
Rocky Mountain House, where they arrived on June 30.
The remainder of the summer and the following winter were spent
at Rocky Mountain House ; but in August and September Thompson
made a trip to Fort Augustus and back on horseback.
1802
In May, 1802, he again descended the Saskatchewan river, and
continued on to Lake Superior, this time to the mouth of the Kamini-
stikwia river at Fort William, to which place the headquarters of the
North-West Company had been moved the previous year. From Fort
William he returned westward to Lesser Slave lake, though by what
route does not appear from his journals. Probably he ascended the
Saskatchewan, and crossed overland from Fort Augustus to Athabaska
river, as he had done in 1799. Between October 21 and November 9
he ascended from the mouth of Lesser Slave Lake river to the house
on the west side of Lesser Slave lake, which he places in latitude
55° 32' 36" N., on or near the site of the present trading post of the
Hudson's Bay Company. Thence he continued northward to a post
which he speaks of as the "Forks of the Peace River," ^ a name which
still survives in a slightly changed form as Peace River Landing. He
places this post five miles above the mouth of Smoky river, in latitude
56° 8' 17" N., and longitude 117° 13' 14" W. ; at that time the variation
of the magnetic needle was 23^° East,
1803
The year 1803 Thompson spent almost wholly at Peace River
Forks. From January 18 to June 5 he kept a meteorological
journal at this post, jotting down at the same time many interesting
notes. On June 5 he notices the arrival of a canoe of the X Y
Company, who put up one hundred yards farther up the stream,
"where they are going to build." From June 5 to June 24 he
^ This post had been built by Alexander Mackenzie ten years before, when
he was on his journey from Lake Athabaska to the Pacific ocean.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixxxiii
was hunting in the vicinity ; but on June 25 the meteorological
journal was resumed, and kept up regularly to December 11. Be-
tween this date and December 29, Thompson made a trip with
dogs to Lesser Slave lake and back.
1804
On February 29 he set ofF up the river on foot, with a team of
dogs to carry his provisions and baggage, and reached " Rocky Moun-
tain House," ^ the most westerly post of the North- West Company at
that time, on March 6. This post he places in latitude 56° 12' 54" N.,
longitude 1 20° 38' W. After remaining here for two days, he once more
turned eastward, and retraced his steps down the river, and arrived at
Peace River Forks on March 13.
On March 15, probably accompanied by his wife and two chil-
dren, he started on the long journey to Fort William. He travelled
down the river on the ice to Horse Shoe House, in latitude 57° 8' N. ;
here he remained from March 20 to April 30, until the ice should
break and clear out of the river ; then he continued his journey down
the river by canoe. On May 2 he passed a post of the North-West
Company, which he calls Fort Vermilion, though it was considerably
higher up the river than the present Fort Vermilion of the Hudson's
Bay Company. Below it the following places are recorded by him in
succession : " Old Fort du Tremble " ; " Fort Liard, N. W. Co., Mr.
Fraser " (not far from the site of the present Fort Vermilion) ; "Fort, Mr.
Wintzel, N. W. Co." (five miles below the lower portion of Vermilion
Falls) ; and " Grand Marais, N. W. Co., now deserted." On May 12,
in company with a trader named Wentzel, he arrived at Athabaska
House, on the north shore of Lake Athabaska, in latitude 58° 42' 50"
N., on the site of the present Fort Chipewyan.^ Here he remained
for three days ; then he continued his survey across Lake Athabaska
and up Athabaska river. On May 17 he passed Peter Pond's old
^ This post must not be confounded with Rocky Mountain House on the
Saskatchewan river, which was Thompson's home for so many winters.
* The old fort which had been built by Roderick Mackenzie in 1788, where
Philip Turner spent the winter of 1791-92, was on the south side of Lake
Athabaska in latitude 58° 38' N., longitude 1 10° 26i' W., about twenty-five miles
east of Fort Chipewyan, on the point marked Old Fort Point on J. B. Tyrrell's
map of Lake Athabaska. It was from this post that Alexander Mackenzie
started, in 1789 and 1792, on his journeys of discovery down the Mackenzie
river to the Arctic ocean, and up the Peace river and westward to the Pacific
Ixxxiv DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
trading post on the bank of the river, where Pond, the first white trader
who had ventured so far west and north as this river, had wintered in
1778—9 ; and on May 19 he reached the trading post at the mouth of
the Clearwater river. From here he proceeded along the route he
had already surveyed, up Clearwater river, across the Methy Portage,
down the Churchill river to Frog Portage, and thence by Cumber-
land House to Fort William.
After a short stay at headquarters, he turned back toward the west.
This time he travelled up the Kaministikwia river to Dog lake,
through this lake, and up the Dog river, and across to Lac des Mille
Lacs, where the North- West Company had a post to the right of two
islands in latitude 48° 48' 27" N., and thence westward to Lake La
Croix and Rainy lake, and thence onward by the usual route to
Cumberland House, where he arrived on September 8.
From Cumberland House he now turned aside to spend the winter
on his old trading ground in what he calls the " Muskrat Country."
On September 10 he struck off northward through Sturgeon, Goose,
and Athapapuskow lakes to Cranberry Portage, which he crossed into
Cranberry lake. At the narrows in this lake he left men to build a
trading post. He himself continued on to Reed lake, ascended Little
Swan river, and portaged into File lake, whence he descended File
river into Burntwood lake, and continued on to Missinipi (Churchill)
river, down which he travelled for a short distance to an old fort
(Nelson House), which he reached on October i. After making
arrangements to provision this post, he continued on down the river,
and arrived at Musquawegan (Bear's Backbone) Post on October 6,
in latitude 56° 13' 7" N., longitude 100° 25' 50" W. The exact loca-
tion of this post has never been determined, except as it is shown on
Thompson's map, for no white man is known to have visited this place
since his time. Here Thompson remained until the following spring,
with his old schoolmate, George Charles, opposing him in the interest
of the Hudson's Bay Company.
ocean. When Thompson passed it in 1804, it seems to have been abandoned,
as the North-West Company had moved the post over to the present site
of Fort Chipewyan at the west end of the lake some years before. The
Hudson's Bay Company's trading post at this lake was first built by Peter
Fidler in 1802, and was called Nottingham House, after the North-Westers
had already been in occupation of the country for twenty-four years. Fidler
occupied the post until 1806, when he abandoned it, as he had had no success
in trading with the Indians.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixxxv
1805
On May 27 and 28, 1805, he made a journey to the post at
the south end of (South) Indian lake and Churchill river, which he
places in latitude 56° 48' 20" N. This place is about two hundred and
fifty miles from Fort Churchill on Hudson Bay, and is the most north-
easterly point reached by Thompson while in the service of the North-
West Company. On June i he left Musquawegan, and travelled
upstream to the Forks of the Missinipi (Churchill), which he reached
on June 4, and thence he proceeded by Burntwood Portage, File river,
and Cranberry Portage to Cumberland House, where he arrived on
June 17. Here he learned for the first time that the North-West and
X Y Companies had united, by an agreement signed on November
5, 1804. He left Cumberland House on June 23, and returned to
the fort on Cranberry lake, where he arrived on June 27, and re-
mained until July 25. On this date he set out for Reindeer lake.
He carried over the Cranberry portage, passed through Athapapuskow
lake and river, crossed Goose lake, and descended Goose river to
Sturgeon-weir river, up which he turned to Beaver lake. Thence he
followed the regular route to Trade (Frog) Portage, descended the
Churchill river, and ascended Reindeer river to Reindeer lake,
where he arrived on August 4. Here he left Benjamin Frobisher to
build a house close to the old houses, and he himself returned to
Cumberland House, where he arrived on August 24. On August 12
he met Peter Fidler, of the Hudson's Bay Company, going to Lake
Athabaska, but for some reason these old companions passed each other
without speaking. On September 10 he again started north to Cran-
berry Portage, and thence to Reed lake, where he had wintered in
1794-95, while in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. Here
he built a house some distance east of the old one which he had occu-
pied eleven years before, and remained for the winter quietly trading
furs and taking astronomical observations.
After Thompson completed his surveys of this "Muskrat Country,"
no further information was obtained about it for nearly a century, and
when, in 1896, I travelled through it, the only map of any service
which was available was that drawn by David Thompson in 181 3
from surveys made at this time.
Ixxxvi DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
1806
On June 10, 1806, he left this post in the Muskrat country
never to return to it, and returned to Cumberland House, where he
arrived on June 14. Thence he proceeded at once to Fort William.
Here he received instructions to attempt once more to open trade
relations w^ith the Indians west of the Rocky Mountains, and he at
once returned by way of Cumberland House, where Harmon met him
on September 11, to his old home at Rocky Mountain House, where
he arrived on October 29. Here he remained trading with the
Indians throughout the following winter, and preparing for his journey
across the mountains in the following spring.
1807
On May 10, accompanied by his wife and family, Thompson
started from Rocky Mountain House to cross the mountains. Finan
McDonald took a canoe with provisions up the Saskatchewan river,
while Thompson himself travelled on horseback on the north side of
the river. On June 3 they reached Kootenay Plain, a wide, open flat
on the north side of the river within the mountains, in latitude
56° 2' 6" N. ; and on June 6 they reached the Forks. They then
turned up the south branch of the stream ; but after ascending it for
three miles were obliged to stop, as they could take the canoes no
further. They remained here till June 25, when they started across
the mountains, packing all their supplies with them on horses. At
I P.M. on June 25 they reached the height of land in latitude
51° 48' 27" N.^ Thence they descended along the banks of a mountain
torrent (Blaeberry river) to "Kootanie" (Columbia) river, which they
reached on June 30, in latitude 51° 25' \\' N., longitude 116° 52' 45"
W., a mile or two north-west of Moberly station on the Canadian
Pacific Railway. Jaco Finlay had been across the mountains to this
place the year before, and had built a canoe and left it in what he sup-
^ The pass by which Thompson here crossed the mountains is now known
as Howse Pass, although Joseph Howse, a clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company,
did not begin to use the pass until 1809, two years after Thompson had made
his first trip over it. The eastern portion of the pass below the mouth of
Whirlpool River was examined by Dr. Hector in 1859, and described by him
in The Journals, Detailed Reports, and Observations relative to the Exploration
by Captain Palliser, London, 1863, pp. 122-130.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixxxvii
posed to be a safe place for Thompson's use when he should arrive,
but it was found to have been so badly broken in the meantime as to
be now utterly useless. He camped here, near the mouth of the
Blaeberry, and the members of the party for several days devoted them-
selves to repacking their stuff and building canoes. On July 12, having
placed all the trading goods in canoes, they set out and ascended (not
descended) the Columbia river, and reached Lower Columbia lake
(now Lake Windermere) on July 18. At the south end of this lake
Thompson began to build in latitude 50° 31' 24" N. ; but finding the
place unsuitable, he moved on July 29 down the river to about a mile
from the lake, and built " Kootanae House " on the west side of the
Columbia river, in latitude 50° 32' i^" N., longitude 115° 51' 40" W.,
variation 24^° East. Here he remained for the rest of the year, trading
with the Kutenai Indians, and taking meteorological and astronomical
observations. With the chief of the Flatbow Indians for a guide he
made a trip for a few days down the banks of the Kootenay river.
He also carefully measured the heights of some of the neighbouring
mountains, from a measured base of 6,920 feet. Mount Nelson, to
the west of the fort, he found to be 7,223 feet above the surface of
the lake, which would give it a height of 9,900 feet above the sea — a
height 100 feet lower than that given on Dr. Dawson's map of 1885.
1808
On April 20, 1808, Thompson set out with canoes toward the
south, and the next day reached the portage to the " Flat Bow " or
" McGillivray's " (Kootenay) river, which he calls " McGillivray's
Portage." From here he descended the " Flat Bow " (Kootenay)
river in a canoe, making a careful survey with a compass, checked
by latitudes. On April 24 he passed the mouth of the "Torrent"
(St. Mary's) river, and on April 27 he reached the mouth of the
" Fine Meadow " (Tobacco) river in Montana. On May 6 he
reached the Kootenay Falls, and portaged past them, and two days
later he reached a camp of Flatheads and Kutenai in latitude
48° 42' 52" N., longitude 116° W., at or near Bonner's Ferry in Idaho.
Having induced these Indians to promise to trade with him, he again
set off on May 13, and on the next day reached Flat Bow or
Kootenay lake at Kootenay Landing. From here he returned up
the river to the camp of the Flatheads, whence he took horses and
travelled in a north-easterly direction up " McDonald's " (Moyie, or
Ixxxviii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Choecoos, or Grand Quete) river along the line of the Canadian
Pacific Railway ; and on May i8 he reached McGillivray's (Kootenay)
river, about Fort Steele. He crossed the river, followed up the bank
across Wild Horse Creek and " Lussier " (Sheep) river, and reached
Kootanae House on June 5. From here, taking his family with him, he
continued northward down the Columbia to the mouth of the Blae-
berry river, from which place he crossed the mountains with the furs
obtained during the year, and reached Kootenay Plain on June 22.
On this journey he and his party were obliged to kill and eat several
of their horses, as they were unable to obtain other provisions.
At Kootenay Plain, Thompson embarked in a canoe, and descended
the Saskatchewan. At Boggy Hall, he left his family ; but he himself
continued down the river as fast as possible, and on to Rainy lake.
On his way he notes some places of interest in his note-books. The
first is Muskako Fort, four and a half hours below Wolf Brook,
doubtless at the bend in the river in Tp. 30, R. 6, west of the Fifth
Meridian, where "North-West Company" is marked on his large
map. "Old Island Fort," three hours and a half above Fort George,
is the "Isle of Scotland" of his journey of 1800. Fort George was
probably unoccupied at that time, having been abandoned in favour of
Fort Vermilion,^ to which place the headquarters of the district had
been removed. Two days were spent at Fort Vermilion ; then on
July 3 the journey was resumed. On July 4, Thompson passed
"burnt Fort de I'lsle," his Island House of 1800; "the Crossing
Place," probably near Fort Carlton ; " Fort de Milieu," probably the
same as his Upper Hudson House of 1794. Three hours and a half
after passing the Forks, he reached Fort St. Louis, near the site of the
present Fort a la Corne. Three-quarters of an hour later he passed
the site of Fort a la Corne, about four miles down the river, at the
extreme north-east corner of the Hudson's Bay Company's reserve,
on the site of the old French Fort des Prairies,^ On August 2,
^ Fort Vermilion was situated, says Alexander Henry the younger, in
latitude 53" 51' 7" N., on the north side of the Saskatchewan river, "in a long
flat bottom of meadow directly opposite the Vermilion River." This post was
occupied by Alexander Henry the younger from 1808 to 1810, when it was
abandoned in favour of White Earth Fort. But before long it was again
occupied, for in 1814 Gabriel Franch^re "found at this post some ninety
persons, men, women, and children " (Franch^re's Narratii/e, p. 319).
* There has been a good deal of confusion as to the position of these two
posts, arising doubtless from the interchange of names. The exact position
of Fort St. Louis of the North-West Company, which Alexander Henry states
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA Ixxxix
Thompson reached his destination at Rainy Lake House ; and two days
later he set out on his return journey westward. On August i8,
about Wicked Point, on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg, he was
joined by Alexander Henry, with canoes from Red River on the way
to Fort Vermilion. The two parties reached Cumberland House
on August 26 ; and on September 13 and 14 they reached Fort
Vermilion, Henry a day in advance of Thompson. On September 16,
Thompson's canoes left for up the river ; while he himself left
the next day on horseback, and arrived on September 23 at Fort
Augustus. On October 3 he arrived at Boggy Hall, where he
probably rejoined his family. Here, sending on the canoes, he took
men and horses, and set out for the height of land. On October 9
he passed old Rocky Mountain House, and continued on up the river
until October 17, when sharp frosts prevented the canoes being
brought any further. Having therefore camped for a few days to
rearrange the packs, he set out with the pack-horses on October 22,
passed the Kootenay Plain on the 24th, and crossed the height of land
on the 27th. On October 31 he once more reached the Columbia
river. From here he sent the horses southward through the woods,
while he ascended the river in a boat as far as a hoard that had been
built beside the river the year before, in latitude 50" 53' 34" N., apparently
not far from the mouth of Spillimacheen river. From here he sent
Finan McDonald southward with the canoes, to establish a fort and
was abandoned in 1805, is not quite certain, but it was probably close to the
present store of the Hudson's Bay Company. The old French fort was at a
bend several miles farther down the river, about the north-east corner of the
Hudson's Bay reserve. In 1896, the old trails and marks where the stockades
had been were distinctly traceable. The fort would appear to have been built
first by Legardeur de St. Pierre in 1753 ; and it was occupied by six men when
visited by Anthony Hendry of the Hudson's Bay Company in May, 1755. I"
August, 1772, the place was visited by Mathew Cocking, another employee of the
Hudson's Bay Company, and it was then found to be occupied by an Indian camp.
But in the winter of 1776, when the place was visited by Alexander Henry the
elder, it was in charge of James Finlay, who had a fort with an area of about
an acre enclosed in a stockade, and from fifty to eighty men for its defence.
After the abandonment of Fort St. Louis by the North-West Company in 1805,
the location seems to have been unoccupied until about 1846, when the Hudson's
Bay Company rebuilt on the site of the old French fort. In 1887, when in charge
of Philip Turner, the grandson of either Philip or John Turnor, it was moved
three miles up the river to its present position. Dr. Elliott Coues, in his New
Light on the Earlier History of the Greater Northwest^ New York, 1897, puts
the positions of both these posts too far up the river.
xc DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
winter at the falls on the Kootenay river ; while he himself went
on horseback to the old Kootanae House, where he arrived on
November lO, and where he spent the winter trading with the
Kutenai Indians. James McMillan was his assistant, and Jaco Finlay
was hunting in the vicinity.
1809
After the winter's trade at Kootanae House was finished, on
April 17, 1809, Thompson removed a short distance down the river,
and camped till the 27th. He then descended the Columbia river in
a canoe, the horses being at the same time driven through the woods
to the Mountain Portage, and crossed the mountains to the Saskat-
chewan. At the Kootenay Plain, at which he arrived on June 18,
a canoe was built, and loaded with some of the furs which he had
obtained during the winter. In it he descended the river to Fort
Augustus,^ where he arrived on June 24, and was welcomed by his
old friend James Hughes. On June 27, two canoes were sent east-
ward with his furs, but he himself remained at the fort until July 18.
On this date, having sent canoes up the Saskatchewan four days
before him, he set off on horseback towards the mountains. Near
the mouth of Wolf Creek, he caught up to and joined the canoes,
and sent back the horses as they had come. Travelling up the river,
he reached Kootenay Plain on August 3. Here he remained for a
few days, arranging the packs for the journey across the mountains,
and on August 8 he started westward on horseback. Next day he
met Joseph Howse, a clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company, who had
left Fort Edmonton on July 18 on an exploring trip, returning again
to the east. On August 1 1 he crossed the height of land, and two
days later he reached the Columbia. He ascended this river as far as
McGillivray's Portage, which he reached on August 20 ; then he
descended the Kootenay river, and on August 29 he reached the
Great Road of the Flatheads, where he had come to the large camp
of these Indians in the spring of 1808, near Bonner's Ferry.
Having obtained horses from the Indians, he set out toward the
south on September 6, and reached Pend d'Oreille lake on September 8 ;
and the next day he arrived at the mouth of Clark's Fork, where
^ This was new Fort Augustus on the site of the present city of Edmonton.
The old fort twenty miles farther down the river had been destroyed by the
Blackfeet in 1807.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA xci
it empties into the lake. Here he found a large camp of Flatheads and
other Indians. On September lO he found a spot on a peninsula on
the east side of this lake, a mile and a half from the mouth of the river, in
latitude 48° 1 1' 30" N., where he built a house, which he called Kullyspell
House. Here he remained for about two weeks, to see that building
operations were being pushed on as rapidly as possible. On Septem-
ber 27 he rode around the north side of the lake, and down the river
flowing from it to latitude 48° 51' N., and returned on October 6. On
October 1 1 he set off again on horseback, and travelled about sixty
miles in a south-easterly direction up the Saleesh river, called on his
map the Nemissoolatakoo river (Clark's Fork). Turning aside from
this river near Thompson's Prairie, he travelled first north-east and
then north-west, till he reached the Kootenay river above the falls,
where he met his clerk, McMillan, bringing the canoes loaded with
trading goods that had been left behind him on the Columbia river.
Here, sending the horses ahead of him, he embarked in one of the
canoes, descended to the Flathead Road, crossed over to Pend d'Oreille
lake, and arrived at Kullyspell House on October 30.
On November 2 he set off again on horseback up the river, and
a week later reached a point in latitude 47° 34' 35" N., near the present
station of Woodlin on the Northern Pacific Railway, where he built
a house which he called Saleesh House. The position of this house
is well described on page 418.
1810
In the spring of 1 810 he made several expeditions in the vicinity
of Saleesh House. On February 23 he started out on horseback with
Mousseau, Lussier, Boulard, and two Indians to look for birch bark for
canoes. They travelled up the river for fifty miles, examining the
woods closely as they went, until they reached the great camp of the
Salish Indians, which was situated on the Flathead river, twenty
miles above its mouth, in latitude 47" 21' 14.'' N., and arrived back at
Saleesh House on March 6. From March 8 to March 14 he made
another journey to the Salish camp, and in this case he returned
down the river in a canoe which he had had built at the camp. And
from March 17 to March 25 he made a third journey to the same
camp, returning in this case also down the river in a canoe, while his
horses were sent in loaded with furs. On both trips down the river he
made a careful survey of it.
xcii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
After his return he engaged Jaco Finlay in his old capacity as clerk
and interpreter.
On April 6 he sent off Mousseau, Beaulieu, and several others with
ten packs of furs to Pend d'Oreille lake.
On April 19 he left Saleesh House and embarked in canoes down
the Saleesh river, and on the evening of Saturday the 2ist he arrived
at Kullyspell House, where Finan McDonald had spent the winter.
Before leaving he sent McDonald up to Saleesh House to spend the
summer.
While at Kullyspell House he decided to make a further investiga-
tion of the Pend d'Oreille river down to its junction with the
Columbia, in order to determine definitely whether it and the Columbia
could be used as a trade route to the east or not. Accordingly, on
April 24 he embarked in a canoe, crossed the lake and descended the
river to latitude 48° 51' N., twenty- two miles from its mouth, but as it
proved to be quite unnavigable he decided to return eastward up the
Kootenay river as before. Returning he reached Kullyspell House on
May I.
On May 9 he left Kullyspell House for the Kootenay river, and on
the 17th, accompanied by McMillan, he started up that river with his
brigade of canoes. He reached McGillivray's Portage on June 6, and
thence descended the Columbia as far as Mountain Portage, where he
arrived on June 16. He then crossed to the Saskatchewan, and arrived
at the Forks in the mountains on June 19, having left the men to
follow him with the pack-horses. Here he embarked in a canoe, and
proceeded down stream. On his way he passed the ruins of old Fort
Augustus ; and on the next day he reached White Earth House,^
where Alexander Henry was in charge for the North-West Company,
and a trader named Henry Hallett for the Hudson's Bay Company.
This house appears to have been at the mouth of White Earth river,
a short distance below the present site of Victoria. On July 4 he
reached Cumberland House, and on July 22 Rainy Lake House.
After loading four canoes with goods to trade, he again turned
westward, and on September 6 reached White Earth House on the
Saskatchewan. On September ii, having sent his four canoes on
ahead of him, he started on horseback for Fort Augustus, where he seems
to have left his family for the winter. Thence he rode up the valley of
1 According to Henry, Thompson had his family with him when he passed
this house.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA xciii
the Saskatchewan to the foot of the mountains, but as his canoes had
been intercepted and turned back by the Piegan, he was obliged to
return down the river, and find a new trail to the Columbia river
by Athabaska Pass at the head-waters of the Athabaska river.
Collecting his men, horses, and supplies at a point on the banks of
the Saskatchewan river about sixty miles below Rocky Mountain
House, where the North-West Company had had a trading post for a
couple of years, which they named Boggy Hall, he started westward
through the woods on an old footpath that had been used by the
Assiniboin Indians when going to their hunting grounds. Taking a
north-westerly course he reached the Athabaska river at the mouth of
a brook in about latitude 53° 38' N., a few miles below where the
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway now reaches it. The next day he
crossed the river and continued up along its bank to Brule lake, to
an island on which was a deserted cabin previously built by some half-
breed or Indian hunters. As there was no food here for his horses,
he moved northward for five miles to a more favourable spot where
he camped and made snow-shoes and sleds for his journey across the
mountains.
On December 29 he set out with sleds and dogs, and also with four
horses to help them for a short distance.
1811
On January 6 he left the four horses somewhere about the mouth
of the Miette river, near where Yellowhead Pass turns off to the
west. He then crossed the height of land by Athabaska Pass
which was afterwards used for many years by the Hudson's Bay
Company as their main line of travel from the Great Plains to the
valley of the Columbia river. Thence he descended Wood river
to the Columbia at the month of Canoe river. He reached it on
January 18, and continued up the Columbia, hauling the sleds, for
twelve miles. Here some of his men mutinied, and he was obliged to
return to the Canoe river, where he remained for the winter.
Having constructed a clinker-built canoe of cedar boards hewn from
trees in the surrounding forest, and sewed after the manner of a birch
canoe, as he had no nails with which to fasten it, he embarked on the
Columbia river on April 17.
Instead of descending, he ascended the river, which was new to him
as far as Blaeberry Creek, overcoming natural obstacles as he met
xciv DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
them, and on May 14 he reached McGillivray's Portage at the head
of Upper Columbia lake. Thence he descended the Kootenay
river to its south-eastern bend, and having here obtained horses,
crossed to Saleesh House on Clark's Fork, in Montana. Having built
a canoe, he descended Clark's Fork, passed through Pend d'Oreille
lake, and continued down the river to the site of the present town
of Cusick in Washington. From here he travelled, with the aid of
thirteen horses, to Spokane House, ten miles north-west of the
present city of Spokane, where Finan McDonald was living at the
time. This trading post is stated by Thompson to have been situated
on the east bank of Spokane river, a mile above the mouth of Little
Spokane river. From Spokane House a ride of three days brought
him to Ilthkoyape (Kettle) Falls on the Columbia river. After some
difficulty in obtaining cedar boards with which to build a canoe, he set
out down the river on July 3, and on July 15, at i p.m., he landed at
Fort Astoria, the newly built trading post of the Pacific Fur Company
at the mouth of the Columbia river.
After spending a few days with McDougall, the trader in charge
at Astoria, Thompson started back up the Columbia. On July 28
he reached the Cascades, which he had difficulty in passing on account
of the hostility of the Indians. On August 5 he reached the mouth
of Shawpatin (Snake) river, up which he struggled with the canoe
for " 56 " miles till, on August 8, he reached the southern end of tne
road leading to the Spokane river, in latitude 46° 36' 13" N. Here he
laid up the canoe, and rode overland to Spokane House. Thence he
rode to Ilthkoyape Falls, and, having built a canoe there, ascended the
Columbia river to Canoe river, thus completing the survey of the
whole river from its source to its mouth.
As there is lacking in Thompson's manuscript a description of his
voyage up this part of the Columbia, and as it is important to complete
his record of the survey of the river, the following diary has been com-
piled from Thompson's note-books :
September 2. — Thompson's party left Ilthkoyape Falls at i P.M.,
accompanied by eight canoes of Indians, and paddled upstream against
a strong current until 5.20 p.m., when they put up for the night.
September 3. — The party embarked at 5.30 a.m. Shortly before
noon they reached, in latitude 48° 52' N., a portage on the east bank
1,100 yards long. All afternoon they paddled against a strong current,
and at night they camped five miles below the mouth of Pend d'Oreille
river.
ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA xcv
September 4. — They embarked at 5.50 a.m., and ascended a swift
current all day. They crossed the international boundary line, passed
the mouth of Pend d'Oreille river and the site of the present town of
Trail, and at 6,10 p.m. pitched camp at the mouth of Murphy Creek.
On the right the country was becoming rapidly more rocky.
September 5. — They embarked at 5.50 A.M., and about noon reached
the mouth of the Kootenay river. Here the Indians who had been
accompanying them, left them. They camped for the night near the
site of the town of Castlegar.
September 6. — They set off at 5.40 a.m., and travelled up the river
till 3.15 p.m., when they camped for the night near the site of the
present village of Deer Park. The hills now came down close to the
river, those to the west being thickly covered with forest, but those to
the east being rather bare and rocky. Tracks of reindeer and the
black-tailed chevreuil were plentiful, but they hunted without success.
September 7. — They set off at 6 a.m., and travelled northward over
Lower Arrow lake against a head wind and high waves, and camped
at 6.30 P.M. on the shores of the lake in latitude 49° 44' N., about
three miles south of Edgewood.
September 8. — They set off at 5.38 A.M., passed through the Lower
Arrow lake, and camped on the bank of the river between the two
Arrow lakes, about the mouth of Mosquito Creek. "The lake we
have passed has always current in the middle and very often from side
to side. The last half has a ledge of low wood and land with fine
shore on both sides ; the middle steep, ugly rocks ; and the lower end
rocks and good shore by turns."
September 9. — They set off at 5.40 a.m., and soon entered Upper
Arrow lake. Through this lake they pushed on northward, and
camped somewhere near the site of the hotel at Halcyon Hot Springs.
September 10. — They set off at 5.15 a.m., and early in the day
reached Arrowhead at the north end of the lake. Here they entered
the river, and, encountering a heavy current, were often obliged to
pole their canoe, or haul it against the stream with a line. Though
much delayed by rain, they travelled till 6 p.m.
September 11. — They embarked at 5.35 a.m., and ascended the
stream until 5 p.m., when they camped in latitude 51° 2' 13" N. at the
place to which Finan McDonald had ascended the river in a canoe a
icv/ weeks before. This was about two miles above the present town
of Revelstoke, and one mile below the Little Dalles.
September 12. — They set off at 6 A.M., and ascended the stream
until 5.15 P.M., when they camped for the night in latitude 51° 11' N.
" From early morning the Dalles very bad, all the rest is very strong
current and rapids. Came up with the line."
September 13. — They set off at 6.45 a.m., and camped at 5.30 P.M.
in latitude 51° 22' 30" N. ,
xcvi DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
j.1^ September 14. — They set off at 7.15 a.m. At noon they were in
^\^'' latitude 51° 30' N., two miles below the Dalles des Morts. In the
oV^^^'" afternoon they ascended the Dalles des Morts, which were destined
-^ to be the graveyard of the Columbia river in the early days of the
western fur-trade ; and the following is Thompson's survey and de-
scription of these rapids : " N. 78 W. \ [mile] N. 50 W. 1/8, N. 36 W.
2/3, W. 1/8, N. 35 W. J, all bad, N. 50 W. 1/8, N. 36 W. 2/3.
Strong rapid current, lined on the left, good to run, W. 1/8 strong
rapid, discharged all the heavy pieces and for 250 yards carried, lined
up the canoe on the left, having crossed — N. 30 W. | m. Beginning
of Co. A fall and rush of water. Discharged all for 150 yds. and
lined up, quite light, very dangerous to line down. The rest of Co.
strong Rapid Current. Lined the whole up loaded. On the right
end of Course a large rock between which and the shore lined and
handed. Here the canoes going down ought to bring up N. 40 W. f,
N. 10 E. 1/6, Strong Rapid, Course N. 30 W. \, N. 45 W. |, N. 35
W. i, N. 50 W. i, N. 60 W. \, N. 50 W. 1. Crossed over in middle
of Course and camped at 5.50 p.m. Sight a large bold mountain on
the right. Still much snow on them. The river is very strong
Current. I suppose loaded canoes must line down much of the
Dalles."
September 15. — They set off at 5,15 A.M., and ascended a rapid
current, with dangerous rocky points all day. They camped for the
night on the bank of the stream in latitude 51'' 45' N.
September 16. — They set off at 10 A.M., and first ascended a long
strong rapid, after which the current became more moderate.
September 17. — They set off at 6.30 A.M., and travelled till 6.30 P.M.
up a constant rapid stream to camp in latitude 52° 31' N.
September 18. — They embarked at 7.15 A.M., and about noon
reached Thompson's old hut at the mouth of the Canoe river. They
had hoped to find some of their associates of the North-West Com-
pany from across the mountains waiting for them here with trading
supplies, but in this they were disappointed. Leaving behind them a
message written in the Iroquois language, they set off up the Canoe
river, which was the route they expected their friends to use in coming
from the Athabaska river.
Thompson ascended Canoe river for forty-eight miles, then returned
to its mouth. Part of the trading goods for the next year having been
brought across the mountains, he sent them down the river to Ilthkoy-
ape Falls ; while he himself crossed the mountains to Henry's House,
and returned with the rest of the goods to the falls. Thence he
walked to Spokane House, where he obtained horses, and returned to
the Columbia for the goods left at the canoe.
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ITINERARY IN N.-W. AMERICA xcvii
He then rode southward to Spokane House, up the Spokane river
for twenty-five miles above the house, and northward to Pend d'Oreille
river at a point twelve miles below Pend d'Oreille lake, after which
he followed the trail along the north bank of this river upwards to
Salcesh House, where he arrived on November 19. It seems to have
been deserted, though Finan McDonald was trading with the Indians
in the vicinity. After rebuilding the house, he made a trip on horse-
back up the south branch for thirty miles, but finding no place more
suitable for a trading post than the one he was occupying, he returned.
1812
On February 15 he left Saleesh House with Finan McDonald,
Michel, and ten men in two canoes to go to the Salish Indians to
trade provisions. They went up to the Salish camp which was then
pitched on Flathead river, four miles below the mouth of Jocko Creek.
From here, on February 25, 26, and 27, he rode up the bank of Flat-
head river to Jocko Creek, up that creek, and over a defile to the
summit of what is now known as Jumbo Hill in the city of Missoula,
Montana, near the banks of Hell Gate river, which he called " Courier's
Branch." Here he spent several hours making a sketch of the surround-
ing country, and tracing out the route by which Lewis and Clark had
travelled through it, after which he returned as quickly as possible
to the Salish camp. On March i he rode northward from the Salish
camp as far as the south end of Flathead lake, and returned to camp
the same day. The next day he, with his whole party, started back
for Saleesh House, where letters had just arrived from John McDonald
of Garth, who was spending the winter at Kootanae House.
On March 13 he left Saleesh House, and embarking in his canoe
started on his voyage to the east Four days later he encamped at the
north end of the Skeetshoo road where he had reached the river in the
previous autumn. After a delay of four days McTavish met him with
horses and men, and took him south to Spokane House. Pushing on
from there he reached a place eight miles east of Ilthkoyape Falls where
he found cedar and some birch bark suitable for building canoes.
Here he stayed hard at work building canoes from March 31 to April 21,
on which latter date McTavish and McMillan arrived with all the furs
from Spokane House.
All was now ready, and on April 22 he bade good-bye to Ilthkoyape
Falls and, accompanied by McTavish, started with his brigade of six
xcviii DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
canoes for Fort William. He reached the mouth of Canoe river on
May 5. On May 6 he set out on foot from the Boat Encampment at
the mouth of Canoe river on the journey which vv^as to take him back
at last to civilization. Travelling eastward by Athabaska Pass, he
crossed the height of land on May 8, and on May 1 1 reached the
house of William Henry on the Athabaska river, in latitude 52° 55' 16"
N. On May 13 he started down the river in a canoe. On May 20 he
reached the mouth of Lesser Slave river, up which he pushed to the
house at its head ; having returned thence, he continued down the
Athabaska to the Red Deer or La Biche river, which he reached on
May 25. He turned up this stream, and reached Red Deer lake, or
Lake La Biche, on May 27. Having crossed the portage from this
lake, he descended the Beaver river to Isle a la Crosse, and continuing
down Churchill river, reached Cumberland House on June 18.
Thence he continued eastward along the ordinary trade route through
Lake Winnipeg and up the Winnipeg and Rainy rivers to Lake
Superior. On August 12 he left Fort William, the western head-
quarters of the North- West Company, and continuing eastward, re-
surveyed the north shore of Lake Superior as far as Sault Ste. Marie,
which he reached on August 24. Thence he continued along the
north shore of Lake Huron, up the French river and down the Ottawa
river, and arrived at Terrebonne, north of Montreal. Here he took
up his residence ; and although in the course of his survey of the
boundary line between the United States and Canada he travelled as
far west as the Lake of the Woods, he never returned to his old fields
of labour in the far West, or revisited any of his early homes on the
banks of the Saskatchewan or Columbia rivers.
PART I
DAVID THOMPSON'S
NARRATIVE
CHAPTER I
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY
Leave London on HudsorCs Bay Compan'fs Ship — Arrive at
Stromness — Early education — Set sail for HudsorCs Bay —
Fort Prince of Wales — Tlf Samuel Hearne — Life at
Churchill — 7ame Polar Bear at the Factory — Musketoes,
Sand Flies, and Midgeuks — Companions at the Factory —
Arrival of George Charles — Means of obtaining a Surveyor
by Hudson'' s Bay Company.
IN the month of May 1784 at the Port of London, I
embarked in the ship Prince Rupert belonging to the
Hudson's Bay Company, as apprentice and clerk to
the said company, bound for Churchill Factory, on the west
side of the bay. None of the Officers or Men had their stock
of liquor on board from the high price of those articles. On
the third morning at dawn of day, we perceived a dutch
lugger about half a mile from us. A boat was directly lowered,
and the gunner a tall handsome young man, stepped into her
with four men, they were soon on board of the lugger, a
case of gin was produced, a glass tasted ; approved, the
dutchman was in a hurry, as he said a Revenue Cutter was
cruising near hand, and he must luff off ; a Guinea was paid,
the case locked, put into the boat, and was soon placed in
4 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the steerage cabin of our ship. The case was of half inch
boards tacked together, and daubed red, on opening it there
were nine square bottles of common glass, each was full with
the corks cut close to the neck of the bottle, except one with
a long cork, the one which the gunner had tasted, it was
taken out a glass handed round and each praised it ; but the
carpenter who was an old cruiser wished to taste some of the
other bottles, a cork was drawn, a glass filled, the colour had
a fine look, it was tasted, spit out and declared to be sea water,
aU the others were found to be the same.
The gunner who had thus paid a guinea for three half
pints of gin, the contents of the bottle, got into a fighting
humour, but to no purpose, the dutchman was luffing off in
fine style. The next morning about sun rise, the hills of
Scotland lying blue in the western horizon, to the east of us
about two miles, we saw a boat with six men coming from
the deep sea fishing. The wind was light, and they soon came
alongside. They were fine manly hardy looking men, they were
sitting up to their knees in fish, for the boat was full of the
various kinds they had caught ; Our Captain bought some
fine halibut and skate fish from them, for which they would
not take money, but old rope in exchange to make fettels
for their creels, these words I did not understand until the
Boatswain, who was a Scotchman told me it was to make
rope handles to their baskets and buckets. Our captain
pleased with his bargain, told me to give them a hat full of
biscuit. Umbrella's were not in those days, but our broad
brimmed hats served for both purposes. Pleased with the
ruddy looks of them, I filled my hat as full as it could hold,
and had to carry it by the edges of the brim. As I passed
by the Captain I heard him give me a hearty curse, and saying
I'll never send him for biscuit again ; but the boat's crew
were so pleased they told me to hand down a bucket, which
they filled with fresh caught herrings, a great relief from
salt meat.
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 5
On the sixth day about nine pm. we anchored in the
harbour of Stromness, where the three ships bound for
Hudsons Bay had to wait for final instructions and sailing
orders, as there were no telegraphs in those [days] we were
delayed three weeks. Until this Voyage I had passed my life
near to Westminster Abbey, the last seven year in the grey
coat school on royal foundation. This school was formerly
something of a Monastery and belonged to Westminster
Abbey from which it was taken at the suppression of the
monastic order, but not finally settled until the reign of
Queen Anne. It is still held of the Dean and Chapter of
the Abbey by the Tenure of paying a peper corn to the said
Dean and Chapter on a certain day, which the Governors
annually pay.
During the year our holidays at different times were
about eighteen to twenty days, the greatest part of which I
spent in this venerable Abbey and it's cloisters, reading the
monumental inscriptions and [as] often as possible [in] Henry
the seventh chapel. My strolls were to London Bridge,
Chelsea, and Vauxhall and S' James's Park. Books in those
days were scarce and dear and most of the scholars got the
loan of such books as his parents could lend him. Those
which pleased us most were the Tales of the Genii, the
Persian, and Arabian Tales, with Robinson Crusoe and
Gullivers Travels : these gave us many subjects for discussion
and how each would behave on various occasions.
With such an account of the several regions of the Earth
and on such credible authority, I conceived myself to have
knowledge to say something of any place I might come to,
and the blue hills of Scotland werb so distant as to leave to
imagination to paint them as she pleased. When I woke in
the morning and went upon deck, I could not help staring
to see if [what] was before me was reality for I had never
read of such a place. And at length exclaimed I see no trees,
to which a Sailor answered No no, people here do not spoil
6 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
their clothes by climbing up trees. One of the first objects
that drew my attention were several kelp kilns for burning
sea weed into a kind of potash. The sea weeds were collected
by a number of Men and Women their legs appeared red
and swelled. The sea weeds were collected into baskets, the
rope handles of which were passed round their breasts, each
helped up the load for one another, and as they carried it
over rough rocky shore left by the ebb tide to the kilns, the
sea water streamed down their backs.
The smoke of the fires of these kilns was as black as that of
a coal fire. One day our Captain had invited the other
captains and some gentlemen from the Island to dine with
him, a little before the time the wind changed, and the smoke
of five of the kilns came direct on our ship turning day into
night, the Boatswain was ordered to go and make them put
out their kilns, which they refused to do ; upon which he
threatened to send cannon balls among them to smash their
kilns, but the sturdy fellows replied. You may as well take
our lives as our means, we will not put them out. Finding
threats would not do, he enquired how much they gained a
day : they said, when the kilns burn well they gained ten-
pence ; upon which he gave to each one shilling ; the kilns
were then soon put out, the smoke cleared away and
we again saw daylight. I could not help comparing this
hard, wet labour for tenpence a day where not even a
whistle was heard, with the merry songs of the ploughboys
in England.
This place was to me a new world, nothing reminded me
of Westminster Abbey, and my strolls to Vauxhall, Spring
Gardens and other places, where all was beauty to the eye,
and verdure to the feet ; here all was rock with very little
soil, everywhere loose stones that hurt my feet ; not a tree
to be seen. I sadly missed the old Oaks, under whose shade
I sat, and played. I could not conceive by what means the
people lived ; they appeared comfortable, and their low dark
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 7
houses, with a peat fire, the smoke of which escaped by a
small hole, contained all they required.
They carried on a considerable contraband trade with
Holland ; which from the very high duties on Liquors and
other articles gave them a profitable trade. None of the
officers and crews of the three Ships had provided themselves
with liquors for the voyage, as they knew these things could
be procured here cheaper and better than in London. One
afternoon, taking a walk with one of the petty officers, we
entered a low dark house. It was three or four minutes before
we could perceive the gudeman, who in his homespun blue
coat was sitting alone by his turf fire ; my companion en-
quired how times went, and if he had an anker keg of comfort
for a cold voyage ; he said of late the Revenue Cutters had
been very active, and stocks low ; but he could accommodate
him. The price was soon settled, and the gin found a place
in the ship. And thus it will always be with high duties.
The Kirk was on the shore of the Harbor, the Minister was
the Reverend Mr. Falkner, a gentleman remarkable for a fine
powerful voice and using plain language adapted to the
education of his flock, he appeared to be much respected.
Altho' many of his congregation came several miles over a
rough country, yet his Kirk of a Sunday was filled ; every
man woman and child came with their blue stockings and
thick soled shoes neatly folded under their arms. Sitting
down on the stones near the church they were put on their
feet, and thus [they] entered the Kirk ; on coming out the
shoes and stockings were taken off, folded and placed under
the arms and thus [they] returned home : their behaviour
was remarkably good, grave yet cheerfuU with respect for each
other, and kind attention to the women and children. In
those days there was no Telegraph ; it took three weeks to
send letters to London and receive an answer for sailing
orders. We now held our course over the western ocean ;
and near the islands of America saw several icebergs, and
8 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Hudson's Straits were so full of ice, as to require the time of
near a month to pass them ; this being effected the three
ships separated, one for Albany and Moose Factories, another
for York Factory, and the third for Churchill Factory at
which last place we arrived in the beginning of September
1784.
Hudson's Bay, including Jame's Bay, may be said to be
an inland sea, connected to the Atlantic Ocean by Hudson's
Straits : it is in the form of a Horse Shoe ; and in Latitude
extends from 52 degrees to 60 degrees north, and from
70 degrees to 95 degrees west of Greenwich in the northern
part ; and covers an area of about 192,770 square statute
miles. ^ On it's west side it receives Seal, Churchill, the
Kissiskatchewan,^ Hayes, Severn, Albany, and Moose Rivers ;
on the east side Ruperts and several other Rivers, the names
of which are unknown as they come from barren, desolate,
countries. From Seal River leading south to Churchill River,
about thirty six miles, the country is of granite rock, along
the Bay shore of which is a narrow strip of marsh land, appar-
ently the alluvial of Seal River. The granitic rocks which
bounds the sea coast from far to the northward have their
southern termination at Churchill River; in Latitude 58°. 47'
North Longitude 94°. 3' West, then forms a retiring line from
the sea shore ; for 150 miles to the Kissiskatchewan River,
up which the first granite is found at the distance of one
hundred and thirty five miles, being the borders of the most
eastern Lakes ; and this distance appears to be wholly alluvial ;
and to be of much the same width all along the Bay side :
1 Hudson Bay extends from latitude 51° 10' N. at the south end of
James Bay to latitude 64° N. and from longitude 77° 30' E. to 94° 30' E.,
and has a total area of about 500,000 square miles.
* It is interesting to note that Thompson constantly speaks of the
Nelson river as the Kissiskatchewan river, though I am unable to learn
that this name was used for it by the Indians. Among the Cree Indians
who live on its banks, the Nelson river is called Powinigow or Powinini-
gow, which probably means " the Rapid Strangers' river."
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 9
these alluvials especially of the Kissiskatchewan and Hayes's
Rivers have high steep banks of earth and gravel intermixed,
from ten to forty feet ; the gravel and small stones are all
rounded by the action of water ; the Rivers passing through
this alluvial have a very rapid current with several Falls.
Churchill River where it enters the Sea, is an noble stream
of about one and a half mile in width ; on the south side it
is bounded by a low point of rock and sand ; on the north
side by a low neck of sand with rock appearing through it;
at the extremity of which the Point is about an acre in width,
on which was erected about the year 1745 a regular, well
constructed Fort of Granite : ^ having about thirty cannon of
six to eighteen pound shot. There was no approach to it but
by the narrow isthmus of sand. The water was too shoal for
three fourths of a mile to the middle of the River for Ships,
and this was the only place a ship could come to. (It was at
this Fort that M" Wales the Astronomer observed the Transit
of Venus over the Sun in 1769).^ In the war with the United
States, and with France ; in the year 1782 the celebrated
Navigator De la Peyrouse^ was sent from France, with one
Ship of seventy four Guns, and two Frigates to take and
destroy the Forts of the Hudson's Bay Company. In the
month of August these vessels anchored in the Bay, about
^ For a description and plan of Fort Prince of Wales, which is here
referred to, and an account of its capture by Admiral de la Perouse, see
Samuel Hearne's Journey, edited by J. B. Tyrrell, The Cham plain Society,
Toronto, 1911, pp. 6, 7, 21-2.
2 William Wales was one of the ablest astronomers and mathema-
ticians of his day. With Joseph Dymond he spent a year at Churchill
between August 9, 1768, and September 7, 1769, for the purpose of ob-
serving the transit of Venus over the sun on June 3, 1769. His obser-
vatory was situated on the top of the wall of the south-east bastion of
Fort Prince of Wales, within the parapet.
' Admiral de la Perouse was not only one of the most famous admirals
of the French Navy, but he was also one of France's greatest geographers.
After destroying Forts York and Churchill on Hudson Bay in 1 782, he started
on a voyage round the world, and was last heard from in 1788 from Botany
Bay.
10 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
four miles north of the Fort ; and the next day sent a boat
well manned, to sound the River ; at this time the Fort was
under the command of the well known traveller M"" Samuel
Hearne ; ^ who had been in the naval service. He allowed the
french Boat to sound the River to their satisfaction ; without
firing a single shot at them ; from this conduct Admiral De
la Peyrouse judged what kind of a Commander of the Fort
he had to contend with ; accordingly next day, on the narrow
isthmus of sand and rock of a full mile in length which leads to
the Fort, he landed four hundred men, who marched direct
on the Fort with only small arms. The men in the Fort
begged of M"^ Hearne to allow them to mow down the
French Troops with the hea^.'}'- guns loaded with grape shot,
which he absolutely refused .; and as they approached he
ordered the gates to be opei. jd, and went out to meet them,
and surrendered at discretion ; all the goods, stores, with
a large quantity of valuable Furrs fell into their hands. The
Fort was destroyed and burnt ; but the stone walls of the
Fort were of such solid masonry [that] the fire scarcely injured
them. The french Commander declared, that had his sound-
ing Boat been fired at, he would not have thought of attacking
such a strong Fort so late in the season, when there was not
time for a regular siege. M"^ Hearne was received with cold
pohteness, and looked upon with contempt by the french
Officers. (Note. M"^ Samuel Hearne was a handsome man
of six feet in height, of a ruddy complexion and remarkably
well made, enjoying good health ; as soon as the Hudson's
Bay Company could do without his services they dismissed
him for cowardice. Under him I served my first year. It
was customary of a Sunday for a Sermon to be read to the
Men, which was done in his room, the only comfortable one
1 Samuel Hearne sailed from Churchill for England in the ship Sea
Horse in August, 1787, and died in England in November, 1792, at the
age of forty-seven. A sketch of his life and character will be found in
Samuel Hearne's Journey, edited by J. B. Tyrrell, pp. 1-23.
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 11
in the Factory ; one Sunday, after the service, M"" Jefferson ^
the reader and myself staid a few minutes on orders, he then
took Voltaire's Dictionary, and said to us, here is my belief,
and I have no other. In the Autumn of 1785 he returned
to England, became a member of the Bucks Club and in two
years was buried :) The present Factory ^ is about five miles
above the Fort, in a small Bay formed by a ledge of rocks
which closes on the river about five hundred yards below the
Factory, above which for seven miles is an extensive marsh
to the lower rapids of the River. The Factory is suppHed
once a year with goods and provisions, by a Ship which
arrives on the last days of August, or early in September, and
in about ten days is ready for her homeward voyage ; the
severity of the cUmate requiring all possible dispatch. The
cold weather now comes rapidly on, but as there was no
Thermometer, we could only judge of the intensity of the
cold by our sensations, and it's action on the land and water.
On the fifteenth day of November this great and deep River
was frozen over from side to side, and although the Spring
tides of New and full Moon rose ten to twelve feet above
the ordinary level, no impression was made on the ice, it kept
firm, and it was the middle of June the following year when
the ice broke up and gave us the pleasant sight of water.
About the middle of October the Marshes and Swamps are
frozen over, and the Snow lies on the ground ; for about
two months the Factory yard, enclosed by stockades of twelve
feet in height, was kept clear of snow, but in the latter end
of December a north east snow storm of three days con-
tinuance drifted the snow to the height of the stockades and
^ Jefferson was second in command at Churchill during the latter part
of Samuel Hearne's regime ; and after Hearne's departure he was for a
year or two in command of the post.
2 Churchill Factory is still situated in the place where it was when
Thompson lived in it in 1785. For a description of it and its surroundings,
see J. B. Tyrrell, Report on the Dubawnt, Kazan, and Ferguson Rivers,
Ottawa, 1897, pp. 93-8.
12 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
over them, and filled the whole yard to the depth of six to
ten feet, which could not be cleared, and through which
avenues had to be cut and cleared of about four feet in width ;
and thus remained till late in April, when a gradual thaw
cleared the snow away. From the end of October to the
end of April every step we walk is in Snow Shoes. The
Natives wait with ease and activity, and also many of us :
but some find them a sad incumbrance, their feet become
sore and their ankles sprained ; with many a tumble in the
snow from which it is sometimes difficult to rise. In the open
season in the months of July and August, Salmon ^ from two
to five pounds weight are plentiful ; two nets each of thirty
fathoms in length by five feet in height maintain the Factory
from three to four days in the week. This fish is not
found south of Churchill River. Peculiar to Churchill is a
large species of Hare,^ it dwells among the rocks, it's nest is
better than other Hares, it's skin stronger, the fur long and
very soft, of a beautiful white ; twenty two were caught,
their skins sent to London and readily bought by the Barbers.
The country, soil, and climate in which we live, have always
a powerful effect upon the state of society, and the movements
and comforts of every individual, he must conform himself
to the circumstances under which he is placed, and as such
we lived and conducted ourselves in this extreme cold climate.
All our movements more, or less, were for self-preservation :
All the wood that could be collected for fuel, gave us only
one fire in the morning, and another in the evening.^ The rest
^ Probably some form of the wide-ranging Salvelinus alpinus (Linn.)
[E. A. P.]
* Lepus arcticus caniis Preble. [E. A. P.]
3 The house in which Thompson lived at Churchill in the winter of
1784-85 had doubtless been but recently built, for the old dwelling-house
at Fort Prince of Wales had been burned in 1782, and the employees of
the Hudson's Bay Company had only begun the construction of a new
trading post in the fall of 1783, when they had been allowed to go back
to Hudson Bay. In the hurry of building, Heame and those with him
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 13
of the day, if bad weather, we had to walk in the guard room
with our heavy coats of dressed Beaver ; but when the weather
was tolerable we passed the day in shooting Grouse.^ The
interior of the walls of the House were covered with rime to
the thickness of four inches, pieces of which often broke off,
to prevent which we wetted the whole extent, and made it
a coat of ice, after which it remained firm, and added to the
warmth of the House, for the cold is so intense, that every-
thing in a manner is shivered by it, continually the Rocks
are split with a sound like the report of a gun. Everywhere
the rocks are fractured from the well known effects of freezing
water. This is very well for winter, but in the summer season
the Rocks are also fractured ; although more than half of
their surface is covered with Ponds and rills of water, I could
not believe that water thawing could produce this effect ; but
in the month of July I was sitting on a rock to shoot Curlews ^
as they passed, when a large rock not ten yards from me
split, I went to it, the fracture was about an inch in width.
In looking down it, about ten feet from the surface, was a
bed of soHd ice, the surface of which appeared damp as if
beginning to thaw ; a few days after another large Rock split
close to me, by the fracture, at the depth of about twenty
feet was a bed of ice in the same state : these rocks are not
isolated, they are part of an immense extent to the westward
and northward, every where with innumerable fractures ;
among these rocks are narrow vallies of rolled granite pebbles,
now twenty to fifty feet above the level of the sea ; which
was once the beach of the sea : has the land been elevated, or
the sea retired ; who can tell what has passed in ancient
times. By the early part of October all the birds of passage
appear to have neglected to lay in a sufficient supply of firewood for the
winter. With well-built houses and plenty of fuel men can be as warm
in winter at Churchill as in any other part of Canada.
^ Lagopus albus (Gmelin), and L. rupestris (Gmelin), both described
from Hudson Bay specimens. [E. A. P.]
2 Numenius bovealis (Forster), and N. hudsonicus Latham. [E. A. P.]
14 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
have left us for milder climes, and winter commences, the pools
of water are frozen over and ice [is] on the river side. The
polar Bear ^ now makes his appearance, and prowls about until
the ice at the sea shore is extended to a considerable distance ;
when he leaves to prey on the Seal, his favourite food : during
his stay he is for plunder and every kind of mischief, but not
willing to fight for it. Only one accident happened, it was
in November the snow about eighteen inches deep. A she
Bear prowling about came near to one of the grouse hunters,
his gun snaped and in turning about to get away he fell, fortu-
nately on his back, the Bear now came and hooked one of her
fore paws in one of his snow shoes, and dragged him along
for her cubs ; sadly frightened, after a short distance he re-
covered himself, pricked and primed his gun, and sent the
load of shot Hke a ball into her belly ; she fell with a growl,
and left him. He lost no time in getting up, and running
away as fast as snow shoes would permit him.
The polar, or white. Bear, when taken young is easily
tamed ; In the early part of July the whaling boat in chase
of the Beluga ^ came up with a she bear and her two cubs ;
the bear and one of her cubs were killed ; the other, a male,
was kept, brought to the factory and tamed. At first he had
to be carefully protected from the dogs, but he soon increased
in size and strength to be a fuU match for them, and the
blows of his fore feet kept them at a distance. This Bruin
continued to grow, and his many tricks made him a favourite,
especially with the sailors, who often wrestled with him, and
his growing strength gave them a cornish hug. In the
severity of winter when spruce beer could not be kept from
freezing each mess of four men get a quart of molasses instead
of beer, of which Bruin was fond as well as grog, and
every Saturday used to accompany the men to the steward's
shed when the rations were served to them, the steward
' Thalarctos maritimus (Phipps). [E. A. P.]
> Delphinapterus catodon (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 15
always gave him some on one of his fore paws, which he Hcked
into his mouth. On one of these days the steward and
Bruin had quarreled and as punishment he got no molasses :
he sat very quietly while the steward was putting all to
rights, but seeing him ready to shut the door, made a dash
at the hogshead of molasses, and thrusting his head and neck
to the shoulders, into it, to the utter dismay of the steward,
he carried off a large gallon on his shaggy hair ; he walked
to the middle of the yard, sat down, and then first with one
paw, then the other, brought the molasses into his mouth
until he had cleaned all that part of his coat, all the time
deliciously smacking his lips. Whatever quarrels the steward
and the bear had afterwards, the latter always got his ration
of molasses. On Saturday the sailors had an allowance of
rum, and frequently bought some for the week, and on that
night Bruin was sure to find his way into the guard room ;
one night having tasted some grog, he came to a sailor with
whom he was accustomed to wrestle, and who was drinking
too freely, and was treated by him so liberally that he got
drunk, knocked the sailor down and took possession of his
bed ; at fisty cuffs he knew the bear would beat him and
being determined to have his bed he shot the bear. This is
the fate of almost every Bear that is tamed when grown to
their strength. This animal aifects a northern cHmate and
is found only on the sea side, and the mouths of large rivers
but not beyond the ascent of the tide, and keeping the line
of the sea coasts appear more numerous than they really are.
Some of the males grow to a large size, I have measured a skin
when stretched to a frame to dry, ten and a half feet in
length. The fore paw of one of them kept at Churchill weighed
in the scales thirty two pounds, a decent paw to shake hands
with, the claws are [sharp ?] but only about three inches in
length, the flesh is so fat and oily that a considerable quantity
is collected for the lamps, and other purposes. The skin is
loose and when taken off appears capable of covering a much
16 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
larger animal ; he swims with ease and swiftness, and requires
a good boat with four men to come up with him. Although
the white bear is found along the coasts inhabited by the
Esquimaux yet very few of the skins of this animal are traded
from, or seen with, them. For the white bear though seldom
he attacks a man, yet when attacked will fight hard for his Hfe,
and as he is, what the Indians call Seepnak (strong of life) he
is very rarely killed by a single ball ; much less with an arrow
that cannot break a bone ; hence they must be unwilling to
attack him.
The Nahathaway Indians are all armed with guns, and are
good shots, but they only attack this species of Bear when
they are two together, and one after the other keep a steady
fire on him, but a baU in the brain or heart is directly fatal.
The Esquimaux are a people with whom we are very
little acquainted, although in a manner surrounding us, they
live wholly on the sea coast, which they possess from the
gulph of the S* Lawrence, round the shores of Labrador to
Hudsons Straits, these Straits and adjacent Islands, to Hudson's
Bay, part of it's east shores ; but on the west side of this
Bay, only north of Churchill River, thence northward and
westward to the Coppermine River ; thence to the M'^Kenzie
and westward to Icy Cape, the east side of Behring's Strait.
Along this immense line of sea coast they appear to have
restricted themselves to the sea shores,^ their Canoes give them
free access to ascend the Rivers, yet they never do, every part
they frequent is wholly destitute of growing Trees, their
whole dependence for fuel and other purposes is on drift
wood, of which, fortunately there is plenty. The whole is a
^ In a general way, this statement that the Eskimo Hve exclusively
on the sea coast is correct. Nevertheless, while exploring the Kazan
river, which flows into Chesterfield Inlet, in 1894, I encountered a tribe
of Eskimo who live on its banks and rarely visit the salt water. They
subsist chiefly on the meat of the caribou, which they kill with their spears
in great numbers, and from the skins of the caribou they make their
clothing and the coverings for their kayaks or small canoes.
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 17
dreary, monotonous coast of Rock and Moss without Hills
or Mountains to the M'^Kenzie River, thence westward the
Mountains are near the shore.
In the latter end of February and the months of
March and April, from the mouth of the River seaward for
several miles the Seals are numerous, and have many holes in
the ice through which they come up : how these holes are
made in the apparent solid ice, I never could divine ; to
look into them, they appear like so many wells of a round
form, with sides of smooth solid ice and their size seldom
large enough to admit two seals to pass together.
The Seals ^ do not come up on the ice before nine or ten
in the morning as the weather may be, and go down between
two and three in the afternoon ; they are always on the
watch, scarce a minute passes without some one lifting his
head, to see if any danger is near from the Bear or Man,
apparently their only enemies. Three of us several times
made an attempt to kill one, or more ; but to no purpose,
however wounded they had always life enough to faU into
the ice hole and we lost them ; and I have not heard of any
Seal being killed on the spot by a Ball. The Esquimaux
who live to the northward of us kill these animals for food
and clothing in a quiet and sure manner : the Hunter is
armed with a Lance headed with Bone or Iron, the latter
always preferred : the handle of which, sometimes is the
length of twenty yards (measured) made of pieces of drift
larch wood, neatly fitted to each other, bound together with
sinew, the handle is shortened, or lengthened, as occasion
may require. The Esquimaux Hunter in the evening, when
the Seals are gone to the sea, examines their holes, the places
where they lie, and having selected the hole, best adapted to
1 Three species of seal are common on the coast of Hudson Bay near
Fort Churchill : the Rough or Ringed Seal, Phoca hispida Schreber ;
the Common or Harbour Seal, Phoca vitulina Linn. ; and the Bearded
Seal, Erignathus barbatus (Erxleben). [E. A. P.]
B
18 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
his purpose, early in the morning before the seals come up,
goes to the ice hole he has selected, on the south side of
which he places his Lance, the handle directed northward,
the point of the Lance close to the hole, for the seals He on
the north side of the ice hole, and directing his Lance to the
spot [where] the Seals have been lying, having firmly laid the
helve of his lance, he retires to the end of it, and there hides
himself behind some broken ice, which if he does not find
to his purpose, he brings pieces of ice to make the shelter he
requires. Lying flat on his beUy he awaits with patience the
coming up of the Seals ; the first Seal takes his place at the
north edge of the hole, this is also the direction in which the
Lance is laid ; the other seals, two, or three more, are close
on each side, or behind ; if the Seal is not in the direct line
of the Lance, which is sometimes the case, he gently twists
the handle of the Lance until it is directly opposite to the
heart of the Seal ; still he waits with patience until the Seal
appears asleep ; when with all his skill and strength he drives
the Lance across the hole (near three feet) into the body of
the Seal, which, finding itself wounded, and trying to throw
itself into the ice hole, which the handle of the lance prevents,
only aids the wound ; the hunter keeps the handle firm, and
goes on hands and knees to near the hole, where he quietly
waits the death of the seal ; he then drags the seal from the
hole, takes out his lance and carefully washes the blood from
it. When the hunter shows himself all the seals for some
distance around dive into the ice holes, and do not come up
for several minutes ; this gives time to the Esquimaux to
place his lance at another hole, and await the seals return,
and thus he sometimes kills two of them in one day but this
is not often, as the weather is frequently stormy and cloudy.
The Esquimaux are of a square, plump make, few of them
exceed five feet eight inches in height, the general stature is
below this size, and the women are in proportion to the men,
their features though broad are not unpleasing, with a ten-
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 19
dency to ruddy, they appear cheerful and contented, they are
supple active and strong ; from the land, in the open season,
they have berries, and a few rein-deer, but it is to the sea they
look for their subsistence : the sea birds, the seal, morse,
beluga, and the whale ; living on these oily foods, they are
supposed not to be clean, but the fact is, they are as cleanly
as people living as they do, and without soap can be expected
[to be], all their cooking utensils are in good order. In summer
part of them dwell in tents made of the dressed skins of the
reindeer, these are pitched on the gravel banks, and kept
very neat, they make no fire in them to prevent [them]
being soiled with smoke, which is made near the tent. The
salmon and meat of the reindeer they cure by smoke of drift
wood of which they have plenty. They are very industrious
and ingenious, being for eight months of the year exposed
to the glare of the snow, their eyes become weak ; at the age
of forty years almost every man has an impaired sight. The
eyesight of the women is less injured at this age. They
make neat goggles of wood with a narrow slit, which are
placed on the eyes, to lessen the Hght. They all use Darts,
Lances, Bows and Arrows, as weapons of defence, and for
hunting ; their Darts and Lances are made of drift Larch
wood, headed with bone of the leg of the Rein Deer,^ or a
piece of iron, the latter preferred, and the length of the Dart
is proportioned to it's intended use — for Birds, the Seal, the
Beluga,^ Whale ^ or the Morse ; * to the Dart or Lance for the
three latter, a large bladder made of sealskins, and blown full
of air is attached by a strong line of neatly twisted sinew.
This not only shews the place of the wounded animal but soon
tires him, [so] that he becomes an easy prey, though some-
times with risque to the Hunter and Canoe. The Morse is
^ Rangifer arcticus (Richardson). [E. A. P.]
" Delphinapterus catodon (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* Balcena mysticetus (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* The Walrus, Odohcsnus rosmarus (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
20 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the animal most dreaded, and he is allowed to worry himself
to death before they approach him. Whale Bone is part of
their trade, but whether they procure it by attacking the
Whale as they do the Morse or it is the spoils of those thrown
ashore, is somewhat uncertain. They are dextrous in throw-
ing the dart, although their Canoes allow only the motion of
the upper part of their bodies, and seldom miss a sea bird at
thirty yards distance. Their Bows and Arrows are employed
on the Rein Deer, Wolf and Fox, they draw the Arrow well
and sure, whatever they make displays a neatness and ingenuity
that would do honor to a first rate european workman if he
had no other tools than those poor people have. All along
the sea coast where the Esquimaux are found, there are no
standing woods of any kind, the whole country is rock and
moss, the drift wood is what they wholly depend on for
every purpose for which wood is required, and fortunately it
is plentiful ; brought down by the rivers from the interior
countries, and thrown ashore by the waves and tides of the
sea ; their country everywhere exhibits Rocks, Ponds, and
Moss, a hundred miles has not ground for a garden, even if
the cHmate allowed it ; their cloathing is much the same
everywhere, made of Rein Deer leather and Seal skins, both
men and women wear boots, which come to the knee, the
foot is made of Morse skin, the upper part of seal skin with
the hair off, the whole so neatly sewed together as to be
perfectly water tight : these boots are much sought after by
the people of the Factories, to walk with in the marshes,
where our boots cannot stand the water. They are worth six
shillings p"^ pair, (at Quebec three dollars) and with care last
two years, of open seasons. Their kettles are made of black,
or dark grey marble, of various sizes, some will hold four to
six gallons, they are of an oblong form, shallow in proportion
to their size, this shape serves for fish as well as flesh, they do
not put them on the fire, the victuals in them is cooked by
means of hot stones to make the water boil, to keep it boiling
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 21
by the same means requires very little trouble ; the kettles
are kept clean and in good order, poHshed both in the inside
and outside ; they set a high value on them but prefer a
brass kettle, as lighter and more useful. Their canoes are
made of sealskins sewed together, and held to a proper shape
by gunwales, and ribs made of drift Larch, and sometimes
whalebones added ; they are very sharp at both ends and no
wider in the middle than to admit a man ; their length from
twelve to sixteen feet, they are decked with seal skins so as to
prevent any water getting into the canoe, the place to admit
the man is strengthened by a broad hoop of wood, to the upper
part of which is sewed a sealskin made to draw around the
man like a purse, this the Esquimaux tightens round his waist
so that only the upper part of the body is exposed to the
waves and weather ; they urge along their canoes with great
swiftness, by a paddle having a blade at both ends ; the handle
is in the middle. Early habit has rendered him expert in
balancing himself on the waves of the sea in these sharp canoes
called kaijack. I never saw a european who could balance
himself in these canoes for three minutes. Their weapons for
killing sea birds, seals &c. are placed on the deck of the canoe,
quite at hand, secured by small cords of sinew. For the
removal of their families they have canoes of about thirty
feet in length by six feet in breadth called oomiaks, made of
seal skin, the gunwales and ribs of larch wood, and whale-
bone ; these are paddled by the women and steered by an
old man. Their Bows are made of the Larch found on the
beach, they are from 3! to five feet in length, made of three
pieces of wood of equal lengths, and morticed into each other,
at the back of each joint, or mortice, is a piece of Morse tooth
neatly made to fit the Bow, of nine inches long, a quarter of
an inch thick, on each side thinned to an edge : the back of
the Bow is a groove of half an inch in depth, leaving the sides
for an inch thick along the groove ; this is filled with twisted,
or plaited sinew, running alternately from end to end of the
22 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Bow, each layer secured by cross sinews. In undoing a large
Bow, about four hundred fathoms of this sinew line was
measured : their arrows are twenty eight to thirty inches
long headed with bone, or iron ; but being made of Larch,
for want of better wood, which occasions them to be too large
in proportion to their weight, and lessens their velocity ; yet
such is the strength of their Bows, they pierce a Rein Deer
at one hundred and twenty yards : almost all their weapons
are barbed. When the winter moderates sufficiently to allow
them to travel, they use a large sled made of two runners of
Larch, each runner is six to seven feet long, six to eight
inches deep, and four inches wide, each turning up at the
fore part, the runners are fastened together by bars of wood
let into the upper side of each runner, on these they lay,
and with cords, secure all their baggage, utensils, and pro-
visions ; the men to the number of six, or eight, harness them-
selves to the sled and march from campment to campment in
quest of animals for food and clothing : the women carry
their children, and light things, and sometimes assist the men.
As soon as mild weather comes on, [so] that they can dwell
in tents, they willingly leave their earthy, or snow huts, and
live in tents made of the dressed leather of the Rein Deer,
which are pitched on clean gravel : they rarely allow a fire
to be made in them as it would soil the leather, but for all
purposes make a fire without. When they lie down at night,
they have their particular blankets made of Rein Deer or
Seal skins, beside which, a large coverlet made of the same
material extends all round each half of the tent and covers
everyone, generally there are two families to each tent.
In their conduct to each other they are sociable, friendly,
and of a cheerful temper. But we are not sufficiently
acquainted with their language to say much more ; in their
traffic with us they are honest and friendly. They are not of
the race of the north american Indians, but of european
descent. Nothing can oblige an Indian to work at anything
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 23
but stern necessity ; whereas the Esquimaux is naturally
industrious, very ingenious, fond of the comforts of life so far
as they can attain them, always cheerful, and even gay ; it
is true that in the morning, when he is about to embark in
his shell of a Canoe, to face the waves of the sea, and the
powerful animals he has to contend with, for food and cloth-
ing for himself and family, he is for many minutes very
serious, because he is a man of reflection, knows the dangers
to which he is exposed, but steps into his canoe, and bravely
goes through the toil and dangers of the day.
The steady enemy of the Seal is the Polar Bear. How
this awkward animal catches the watchful Seal, I could not
imagine. The Esquimaux say, he prowls about examining the
ice holes of the Seals and finding one close to high broken ice
there hides himself, and when the Seals are basking in the
Sun and half asleep, he springs upon them, seizes one, which
he hugs to death, and as fast as possible, with his teeth cuts
the back sinews of the neck, the Seal is then powerless and
Bruin feasts on him at his leisure. Few Porpoises ^ are seen,
but the Beluga, a small species of white Whale, are very
numerous from the latter end of May to the beginning of
September, their average length is about fifteen feet, and
[they] are covered with fat from three to five inches in thick-
ness, which yields an oil superior to that of the black whale.
This Summer the Company had a Boat and six Men employed
for the taking of the Beluga, the Boat was of light construc-
tion and painted white, which is the color of this fish, and
as experience has proved the color best adapted to them as
they often, in a manner, touch the Boat ; while they avoid
Boats of any other color, those taken were all struck with the
Harpoon, and often held the Boat in play from three to five
miles before they were killed by the Lance, towing the Boat
* Phoccsna phocesna (Linn.) is common in Baffin's Bay and about
the mouth of Hudson Strait, but apparently has not been detected on
the west shore of Hudson Bay. [E. A. P.]
24 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
at the rate of five miles an hour ; when struck they dive to
the bottom with such force as sometimes to strike the harpoon
out of them, and thus many escape ; in some of those killed
I have seen the harpoon much bent. Their young are of a
blueish color, and in the month of July weigh about one
hundred and twenty pounds, they are struck with a strong
boat hook. The Beluga in chase of the Salmon sometimes
runs himself ashore, especially up large Brooks and Creeks.
If it is ebb tide he stands every chance of remaining and be-
coming the prey of Gulls and the Polar Bear. The produce
of this summers fishing, was three tuns of oil, which could
not pay the expenses. There is scarce a doubt but strong
Nets well anchored would take very many and be profitable
to the Company.^
After passing a long gloomy, and most severe winter, it
will naturally be thought with what delight we enjoy the
Spring, and Summer ; of the former we know nothing but
the melting of the snow and the ice becoming dangerous ;
Summer such as it is, comes at once, and with it myriads of
tormenting Musketoes ; the air is thick with them, there is
no cessation day nor night of suffering from them. Smoke
is no relief, they can stand more smoke than we can, and
smoke cannot be carried about with us. The narrow windows
were so crowded with them, they trod each other to death in
such numbers, we had to sweep them out twice a day ; a
chance cold northeast gale of wind was a grateful relief, and
[we] were thankful for the cold weather that put an end to our
sufferings. The Musketoe Bill, when viewed through a good
microscope, is of a curious formation, composed of two dis-
tinct pieces ; the upper is three sided, of a black color, and
sharp-pointed, under which is a round white tube, like clear
^ For many years the White Whale or Beluga has been taken in some
numbers by means of a net stretched across the mouth of some natural
basin, which, being raised after entrance of a school, imprisons the animals
until the falling tide leaves them helpless. [E. A. P.]
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 25
glass, the mouth inverted inwards ; with the upper part the
skin is perforated, it is then drawn back, and the clear tube
applied to the wound, and the blood sucked through it into
the body, till it is full ; thus their bite are two distinct opera-
tions, but so quickly done as to feel as only one ; different
Persons feel them in a different manner ; some are swelled,
even bloated, with intolerable itching ; others feel only the
smart of the minute wounds ; Oil is the only remedy and
that frequently applied ; the Natives rub themselves with
Sturgeon Oil, which is found to be far more effective than
any other oil. All animals suffer from them, almost to mad-
ness, even the well feathered Birds suffer about the eyes and
neck. The cold nights of September are the first, and most
steady relief. A question has often been asked to which no
satisfactory answer has ever been given ; where, and how, do
they pass the winter, for on their first appearance they are
all full grown, and the young brood does not come forward
until July. The opinion of the Natives, as well as many of
ourselves, is, that they pass the winter at the bottom of ponds
of water, for when these ponds are free of ice, they appear
covered with gnats in a weak state ; and two, or three days
after the Musketoes are on us in full force. This theory may
do very well for the low countries, where except the bare
rock, the whole surface may be said to be wet, and more, or
less, covered with water, but will not do for the extensive
high and dry Plains, where, when the warm season comes on,
they start up in myriads a veritable full grown plague. We
must conclude that wherever they find themselves when the
frost sets in, there they shelter themselves from the winter,
be the country wet or dry ; and this theory appears probable,
for all those countries where they were in myriads, and which
are now under cultivation by the plough, are in a manner
clear of them, and also the Cities and Towns of Canada.
But in America there always has been, and will be Woods,
Swamps, and rough ground, not fit for the plough, but
26 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
admirably adapted to produce Musketoes, and the Cows
turned out to graze, when they return to be milked bring
with them more than enough to plague the farmer. In
September the Sand Fly, and Midgeuks, are numerous, the
latter insinuates itself all over the body ; the skin becomes
heated with itching ; these cease at sun set, but remain until
the season becomes cold. October puts an end to all these
plagues. It is a curious fact [that] the farther to the north-
ward, the more, and more, numerous are all those flies, but
their time is short.
While these insects are so numerous they are a terrour to
every creature on dry lands if swamps may be so called, the
dogs howl, roll themselves on the ground, or hide themselves
in the water ; the Fox seems always in a fighting humour ;
he barks, snaps on all sides, and however hungry and ready to
go a birdsnesting, of which he is fond, is fairly driven to seek
shelter in his hole. A sailor finding swearing of no use, tried
what Tar could do, and covered his face with it, but the
musketoes stuck to it in such numbers as to blind him, and
the tickling of their wings were worse than their bites ; in
fact Oil is the only remedy. I was fortunate in passing my
time in the company of three gentlemen the officers of the
factory, M' Jefferson the deputy governor, M' Prince the
captain of the Sloop, that annually traded with the Esquimaux
to the northward, and M" Hodges the Surgeon ; ^ they had
books which they freely lent to me, among them were several
on history and on animated nature, these were what I paid
most attention to as the most instructive. Writing paper
there was none but what was in the hands of the Governor,
and a few sheets among the officers. On my complaining
that I should lose my writing for want of practice, M' Hearne
^ The Hudson's Bay Company was accustomed to keep a surgeon or
doctor at each of its most important trading posts on Hudson Bay. As
a rule these surgeons were young men who remained only a few years in
the service.
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 27
employed me a few days on his manuscript entitled " A
journey to the North," ^ and at another time I copied an
Invoice.
It had been the custom for many years, when the governors
of the factory required a clerk, to send to the school in which
I was educated to procure a Scholar who had a mathematical
education to send out as Clerk, and, to save expenses, he
was bound apprentice to them for seven years. To learn
what ; for all I had seen in their service neither writing nor
reading was required, and my only business was to amuse
myself, in winter growling at the cold ; and in the open season
shooting Gulls, Ducks, Plover and Curlews, and quareUing
with Musketoes and Sand flies.
The Hudsons Bay Company annually send out three Ships
to their Factories, which generally arrive at their respective
ports in the latter end of August or the early part of September,
and this year (1785) the Ship arrived as usual. When the
Captain landed, I was surprised to see with him iVF John
Charles,^ a school fellow and of the same age as myself, whom
^ This book was published ten years later, and three years after
Hearne's death, under the editorship of Dr. John Douglas, Bishop of
Salisbury, with the title A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's
Bay to the Northern Ocean, and was republished, with introduction and notes,
by the Champlain Society in igii. It describes Hearne's three journeys
on foot from Fort Prince of Wales, at the mouth of the Churchill river,
to the Coppermine river, in the years between 1769 and 1772.
2 Thompson here refers to George Charles, who came to Churchill in
1785. George Charles was in training for the Company at the Grey Coat
School at the time of Thompson's departure from it. In the minutes of
the Grey Coat School under date of June 29, 1785, " The Master reports
that there is but one boy in the School, viz. George Charles, who is under
instruction for the service of the Hudson's Bay Company by order of the
Treasurer at the desire and request of his uncle, Mr. John Allen, Coach-
maker, of Petty France, Westminster." On May 20, 1785, young Charles,
who was then about fifteen years of age, was bound to the Hudson's Bay
Company, and the Grey Coat School paid the Company five pounds, and
four pounds more " in lieu of instruments." George Charles remained at
Churchill, or at the trading posts up the Churchill river, for a number of
years, at least until the winter of 1805, but it does not appear that he ever
28 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
I had left to be bound out to a trade. I enquired of him
what had made him change his mind, he informed me that
shortly after my departure, from what he could learn some
maps drawn by the fur traders of Canada had been seen by M"
Dalrymple,^ which showed the rivers and lakes for many
hundred miles to the westward of Hudsons Bay. That he
appHed to the Company to send out a gentleman well
qualified to survey the interior country, all which they
promised to do, and have [a] gentleman fit for that purpose
made any surveys of the interior country. The work of making a survey
as far west as Lake Athabaska was afterwards assigned to PhiUp Tumor.
John Charles, with whose name Thompson appears to have confused
George Charles, was a younger man who was born in the Parish of St.
Margaret, Westminster, about the year 1785, and who entered the service
of the Hudson's Bay Company about 1799. In 181 5-16 he was at
Nelson House on Churchill river, and in 1820 he was in charge of New
Churchill district, with headquarters at Indian lake. In 1821, at the
union of the Hudson's Bay and North-West Companies, he was a chief
factor with residence at the same place. Later he was at Isle a la Crosse
in charge of the English river district, and in 1833, when Sir George Back
conducted an exploring expedition down the Great Fish river to the
Arctic ocean, he was in charge of the Athabaska district. He retired
from active service in the Company in 1842. R. M. Ballantyne, in his
Hudson's Bay, Edinburgh, 1848, gives an interesting sketch of his appear-
ance and character under the name of Carles.
1 Alexander Dalrymple was Hydrographer to the Admiralty from 1795,
when the post was created, until a few weeks before his death in 1808.
He was born in Scotland on July 24, 1737, and when fifteen years of age
went to India in the service of the East India Company. For twenty-
eight years he remained in the East ; then he returned to England, and
during the next ten years he published a number of books and papers,
chiefly relating to geography and travel. Towards the end of this time he
was appointed Hydrographer to the East India Company. He criti-
cized Hearne's geographical work on his journey to the Coppennine
river ; and he seems to have been largely instrumental in having Philip
Turner sent out to determine the extent and correct position of Lake
Athabaska. It is difficult, however, to understand Thompson's reference
to him in the text. It is hardly likely that any map drawn by the Cana-
dian fur-traders had been seen by him before 1785. It is generally
assumed that the map made by Peter Pond, in or about the year 1785,
which showed Lake Athabaska much too far west and too near the Pacific
ocean, is the one which incited Dalrymple to urge fuller surveys of that
lake and its vicinity.
JOIN HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY 29
to go out with their ships next year ; they accordingly sent
to the School to have one ready. As he was the only one
of age, he was placed in the mathematical School, run quickly
over his studies, for which he had no wish to learn, for three
days, for a few minutes each day, taught to handle Hadley's
quadrant, and bring down the Sun to a chalk mark on the
wall [and] his education was complete, and pronounced fit for
the duties he had to perform ; he was very much disappointed
at all he saw, but he could not return. Hudson's Bay, is
certainly a country that Sinbad the Sailor never saw, as he
makes no mention of Musketoes.
CHAPTER II
LIFE AT A TRADING POST ON HUDSON'S BAY
Orders to set out for Tork Factory — Packet Indians — Leave
Churchill — West shore of HudsorCs Bay — Meet several
Polar Bears — Indian superstitions regarding Polar Bears —
Cross Nelson River and arrive at Tork Factory — Great
Marsh — Shooting wild Geese — Southward migration of Geese
— Orders of the Manito — Cranes and Bitterns — Life at
Tork Factory — Shif arrives and leaves — Winter sets in —
Hunting parties — Depart for Factory — Unwelcome visitor —
His death — Wrath of Indian Woman — Polar Bear in a
trap — Speckled Frout — Hares — White grouse or ptarmigan
— Feeding ground — Netting grouse — Feathers of grouse —
Pine Grouse — Pheasants — Snow Bunting — Fomtit — Cross
beak — Whiskeyjack — Raven — White Fox — Hawks and
Foxes — Snow blindness.
EARLY in September the annual Ship arrived, and
orders were sent for me to proceed directly to York
Factory, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles
to the southward.^ The Hudson's Bay Company had estab-
lished a very useful line of communication between their
several Factories by means of what were called, Packet Indians,
these were each of two Indian men, who left each Factory
with letters to arrive at the next Factory about the expected
time of the arrival of the Ship at such Factory, and thus the
safe arrival of these annual Ships, and the state of the Factories
1 Thompson was at this time fifteen years of age.
30
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 31
became known to each other, and assistance was given where
required. The Boat from Churchill Factory crossed the
River with the two Packet Indians and myself to Cape
Churchill, and landed us without any Provisions, and only
one blanket to cover me at night ; for we had to carry every-
thing : it was a very fine day ; but unfortunately a gallon
of very strong Grog was given to these Indians, who as usual,
as soon as they landed, began drinking, and were soon drunk
and the day lost ; we slept on the ground each in his single
blanket, the dew was heavy : Early in the morning we set off
and continued our march to sunset, without breakfast or
dinner ; the Indians now shot one Goose ^ and three stock
Ducks. ^ We came to something like a dry spot, and stopped for
the night with plenty of drift wood for fuel ; the three Ducks
were soon picked, stuck on a stick to roast at the fire ; mean-
time the Goose was picked, and put to roast. Each of us had
a Duck, and the Goose among us three. Our march all day
had been on the marshy beach of the Bay, which made it
fatigueing ; and directly after supper, each wrapped himself
in his blanket and slept soundly on the ground : the banks
of the Brooks were the only kind of dry ground. The inci-
dents of every day were so much the same that I shall make
one story of the whole : on the evening of the sixth day we
arrived at Kisiskatchewan River, a bold, deep, stream of
two miles in width ; we put up on the bank of a Brook, where
my companions had laid up a Canoe, but the wind blowing
fresh we could not proceed. Our line of march had con-
stantly been along the Bay side, at high water mark, always
wet and muddy, tiresome walking and very duU ; on the
left hand was the sea, which when the tide was in appeared
deep, but the Ebb retired to such a distance, that the Sea
was not visible and showed an immense surface of Mud with
innumerable boulders of rock, from one to five or seven tons
^ Probably Branta canadensis hutchinsi (Rich.). [E. A. P.]
2 Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos Linn. [E. A. P.]
32 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
weight, the greatest part were lodged at about half tide,
where the greatest part of the drift ice remains on the shore ;
as Seal River, north of Churchill River, is the most southern
place where the shore is of Rock, the whole of these boulders
must have come with the ice from the northward of that
River, for south of it, and of Churchill River all is alluvial ;
this evidently shows a strong set of the north sea into Hudson's
Bay on it's west side, returning by the east side into Hudson's
Straits ; for these boulders are found on the west side shores
to the most southern part of the Bay. On our right hand
was an immense extent of alluvial in marsh, morass, and
numerous ponds of water, which furnished water to many
small Brooks ; the woods, such as they are, were out of sight.
Every day we passed from twelve to fifteen Polar Bears,
lying on the marsh, a short distance from the shore, they were
from three to five together, their heads close to each other,
and their bodies lying as radii from a centre. I enquired of
the Indians if the Polar Bears always lay in that form, they
said, it was the common manner in which they lie. As we
passed them, one, or two would lift up their heads and look
at us, but never rose to molest us. The indian rule is to
wallc past them with a steady step without seeming to notice
them. On the sixth day we had a deep Brook to cross, and
on the opposite side of the ford was a large Polar Bear feasting
on a Beluga, we boldly took the ford thinking the bear would
go away, but when [we were] about half way across, he lifted
his head, placed his fore paws on the Beluga, and uttering a
loud growl, showed to us such a sett of teeth as made us
turn up the stream, and for fifty yards wade up to our middle
before we could cross ; during this time the Bear eyed us,
growling like a Mastiff Dog. During the time we were
waiting [for] the wind to calm, I had an opportunity of seeing
the Indian superstition on the Polar Bear ; on one of these
days we noticed a Polar Bear prowling about in the ebb tide,
the Indians set off to kill it as the skin could be taken to the
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 33
Factory in the Canoe ; when the Bear was shot, before they
could skin him and cut off his head, the tide was coming in,
which put them in danger, they left the skin to float ashore,
and seizing the head, each man having hold of an ear, with
their utmost speed in the mud brought the head to land,
the tide was up to their knees when they reached the shore ;
on the first grass they laid down the head, with the nose to
the sea, which they made red with ochre ; then made a
speech to the Manito of the Bears, that he would be kind to
them as they had performed all his orders, had brought the
head of the Bear ashore, and placed it with it's nose to the
sea, begging him to make the skin float ashore, which, at the
Factory would sell for three pints of Brandy ; the Manito
had no intention that they should get drunk, the skin did
not float ashore and was lost. In the afternoon of the third
day the wind calmed, the Indians told me at Noon that we
had staid there too long, that they would now sing and calm
the wind, for their song had great power ; they sung for about
half an hour ; and then said to me, you see the wind is
calming, such is the power of our song. I was hurt at their
pretensions and replied ; you see the Ducks, the Plover and
other Birds, follow the ebb tide, they know the wind is calming
without your song : if you possess such power why did you
not sing on the first day of our being here. They gave no
answer, it is a sad weakness of the human character, and [one]
which is constantly found, more, or less, in the lower orders
of thinly populated countries ; they all possess, if we may
credit them, some superhuman power. The Ebb tide had
now retired about one and a half mile from us. Near sunset,
each of us cut a bundle of small willows, and with the Canoe
and paddles, carried them about a mile, when we laid the
Canoe down, spread the wiUows on the mud, and laid down
to await the return of the tide ; as soon as it reached us, we
got into the canoe, and proceeded up the Kisiskatchewan
River for several miles, then crossed to the south shore and
84 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
landed at a path ^ of four miles in length through woods of
small pines, on low, wet, marsh ground to York Factory,
thank good Providence.^
I now return to the great marsh along which we travelled.
The aquatic fowl in the seasons of spring and autumn are
very numerous. They seem to confine themselves to a belt
of these great marshes, of about two miles in width from the
seashore, and this belt is mostly covered with small ponds ;
and the intervals have much short tender grass, which serves
for food, the interior of the marsh has too much moss. Of
these fowls the wild geese are the most numerous and the
most valuable, and of these the grey goose,^ of which there
are four species, and the brent goose,* a lesser species of the
gray goose, it's feathers are darker and it's cry different. Of
the Snow Geese * there are three varieties, the least of which
is of a blueish color,* they are all somewhat less than the gray
geese, but of richer meat. It may be remarked that of wild
fowl, the darker the feather, the lighter the color of the
meat ; and the whiter the feather, the darker the meat, as
the Snow Goose and the Swan &c. The shooting of the wild
Geese, (or as it is called, the hunt) is of great importance to
the Factories not only for present fresh meat, but also
[because it] forms a supply of Provisions for a great part of
the winter ; the gray geese are the first to arrive in the early
^ This path or track is still used in crossing from the Nelson to the
Hayes river at York Factory, but the land is so wet and boggy that it is
always avoided when it is possible to go round the point of marsh be-
tween the two rivers in canoes.
* Thompson arrived at York Factory about September 15, and on
that date the following entry was made in the books of the Company :
" Gave as a gratuity to the two Indians, for the care they have taken of
David Thompson,
" brandy 3 gals. 16 MB.
"tobacco 4 lbs. 4MB."
^ Branta canadensis (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* Probably Branta c. hutchinsi (Richardson). [E. A. P.]
^ Chen h. nivalis (Forster). [E. A. P.]
* Probably Blue Goose, Chen ccerulescens (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 35
part of May ; the Snow geese arrive about ten days after.
About ten of the best shots of the men of the Factory, with
several Indians, are now sent to the marshes to shoot them.
For this purpose each man has always two guns, each makes
what is called a Stand, this is composed of drift wood and
pine branches, about three feet high, six feet in diameter,
and half round in form, to shelter himself from the weather
and the view of the geese ; each Stand is about 120 yards
from the other, or more, and forms a hne on the usual passage
of the geese, [which is] always near the sea shore ; two, or
three, parties are formed, as circumstances may direct ; each
hunter has about ten mock geese, which are sticks made and
painted to resemble the head and neck of the gray goose,
to which is added a piece of canvas for a body. They are
placed about twenty yards from the Stands, with their beaks
to windward : the position in which the geese feed. When
the geese first arrive, they readily answer to the call of the
Hunter. The Indians imitate them so well that they would
alight among the mock geese, if the shots of the hunter did
not prevent them. The geese are all shot on the wing ; they
are too shy, and the marsh too level, to be approached. Some
good shots, in the spring hunt, kill from 70 to 90 geese, but
the general average is from 40 to 50 geese p*^ man, as the
season may be. The Snow Goose is very unsteady on the
wing, now high, now low, they are hard to hit, they seldom
answer to our call, but the Indians imitate them well ; for
the spring, they answer the call, but do not notice it in
autumn ; for the table, the Snow Goose is the richest bird
that flies. The feathers of the geese are taken care of and
sent to London, where they command a ready sale. The
feathers of four grey geese, and of five Snow geese weigh one
pound. The duration of their stay depends much on the
weather ; a month at the most, and seldom less than three
weeks. The flight of the geese is from daylight to about
8 AM. and from 5 pm. to dusk. By the end of May, or the
36 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
first week in June, the geese have all left us for their breeding
places, much farther to the northward. In the spring several
of the Geese are found with wild rice in their crops. ^ The
wild rice grows in abundance to the south westward ; the
nearest place to York Factory are the small Lakes at the
mouth of the River Winipeg, distant about 420 miles. When
M" Wales was at Fort Churchill in 1769 to observe the
transit of Venus over the Sun,^ from curiosity he several
times took angles of the swiftnes of the wild geese and found
that in a steady gale of wind, their flight before it was sixty
miles an hour. When shooting at them going before a gale
of wind, at the distance of 40 to 50 yards, the aim is taken
two or three inches before his beak. When going against the
wind, at the insertion of the neck. In the middle of July
several flocks of a very large species of grey goose arrived
from the southward, they have a deep harsh note, and are
called Gronkers, by others Barren Geese,^ from its being sup-
posed they never lay eggs. If so, how is this species propa-
gated, they very seldom ahght in our marshes ; but as they
fly low a few of them are shot. Their meat is Hke that of
the common gray goose. I do not remember seeing these
geese in autumn. In the spring all the geese, ducks and other
fowls come from the southward ; in autumn they all come
from the northward. Their first arrival is in the early part
of September, and their stay about three weeks. They keep
arriving, night and day, and our solitary marshes become
covered with noisy, animated Hfe. The same mode of shoot-
ing them, is now as in the spring, but they do not answer the
call so well, and the average number each man may kiU is
from 25 to 30 geese for the season. The geese salted of the
1 In 1895, while exploring the country east of Lake Winnipeg, I found
wild rice growing in some of the small streams as far north as latitude
53°, or only 350 miles south-west of York Factory.
* See note on p. 9.
=* Probably barren individuals of the Canada Goose, Branta cana-
densis (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 87
spring hunt, are better than those of autumn ; they are
fatter, and more firm, those salted in Autumn are only be-
ginning to be fat, which, with young geese, in this state, make
poor salted food. In autumn, the last three days of the geese
appear to be wholly given in cleaning and adjusting every
feather of every part, instead of feeding at pleasure every-
where ; the Manito of the geese, ducks and other fowls had
given his orders, they collect, and form flocks of, from 40 to
60, or more ; and seem to have leaders ; the Manito of the
aquatic fowl has now given his orders for their departure to
milder climates ; his presence sees the setting in of winter,
and the freezing of the ponds &c. The leaders of the flock
have now a deep note. The order is given, and flock after
flock, in innumerable numbers, rise. Their flight is of a
regular form, making an angle of about 25 degrees ; the two
sides of the angle are unequal, that side next to the sea being
more than twice the length of the side next to the land ;
where I have counted 30 geese on one side, the short side
has only ten to twelve, and so in proportion ; the point of
the angle is a single goose, which leads the flock ; when tired
of opening the air, [it] falls into the rear of the short line,
and the goose next on the long, or sea, line, takes his place,
and thus in succession. Thus in two, or three days, these
extensive marshes, swarming with noisy life, become silent,
and wholly deserted ; except when wounded, no instance has
ever been known of geese, or ducks, being found in frozen
ponds, or Lakes. The Svv^an is sometimes frozen in, and loses
his life.
The different species of Geese on the east side of the
[Rocky] Mountains pass the winter in the mild climate of the
Floridas, the mouths of the Mississippe, and around the
Gulph of Mexico, from these shores the wild Geese and Swans
proceed to the northward as far as the Latitude of d'j to 69
north, where they have the benefit of the Sun's light and heat
for the twenty four hours for incubation, and rarely breed
38 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
under twenty hours of Sunlight. These wild birds proceed,
through the pathless air, from where they winter to where
they breed, a distance of about two thousand seven hundred
miles, in a straight line ; and from the place of breeding to
the mouths of the Mississippe, and adjacent shores the same
distance. The question arises, by what means do the wild
geese make such long journeys with such precision of place ;
the wise, and learned, civiHzed man answers, by Instinct, but
what is Instinct : a property of mind that has never been
defined. The Indian beHeves the geese are directed by the
Manito, who has the care of them. Which of the two is
right.
The Frogs ^ now cease to croak ; for they must also prepare
for winter. A few Cranes ^ frequent these marshes, as also a
few Bitterns.^ They pass the whole of the open season in
pairs, yet their eggs are never, or very rarely found, they are
so well hid in the rushes of quagmires which cannot be ap-
proached. The Bittern arrives and departs in pairs mostly
in the night, it is a bird of slow wing, easy to be kiUed. The
Cranes arrive, and depart in flocks of thirty to fifty, their
flight is an angle of fuU thirty degrees, both sides [of which]
are nearly equal ; I have never seen the leader quit his place.
They are good eating, fleshy, but not fat. They make the
best of broth : the ducks and lesser birds arrive and depart
in flocks, but in no regular order.
The society and occupations of the Factories along the
shores of Hudson's Bay are so much alike, that the description
of one Factory may serve for all the others. I shall describe
York Factory, being the principal Factory and in point of
commerce worth aU the other Factories.* The establishment
1 Rana cantabrigensis latiremis Cope. [E. A. P.]
■ Grus canadensis (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
3 Botaurus lentiginosus (Montagu). [E. A. P.]
* York Factory is situated on the top of a cliff of clay thirty feet high,
on the west bank of the Hayes river, five miles above its mouth. Oppo-
site to it the water in the river is from ten to twenty feet in depth, quite
fl
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 39
was composed of a Resident, an Assistant, with one, or two
clerks, a Steward and about forty men, over whom there was
a foreman. The Ship for the Factory arrives generally about
the latter end of August, sometimes later, this depends on
their passage through Hudson's Straits, which in some years
sufficiently deep for small ships or sloops of moderate draught, but at
the mouth of the river are extensive flats over which it is difficult to pass,
except at high tide, and over which the sea-going ships that bring the
supphes from England to York Factory do not attempt to cross.
At the present time the Factory consists of a series of buildings ar-
ranged around a quadrangle, some of which are large stores or warehouses,
while others are residences for the masters and employees engaged there.
The present buildings, or more probably smaller ones which preceded
them, were erected by Joseph Colen in 1789 and the following years, the
central " depot " having been built some time in the early part of last
century.
Old York Fort was situated about half a mile below the present fort
on the same side of the river, and it was to this fort that Thompson
came when he arrived from Churchill in 1785. Previous to that time it
had been occupied by the English and French alternately for about a
hundred years, until 1782, when it was taken by the French under Admiral
de la Perouse, and was burned to the ground, and the English inhabi-
tants were carried captive to France.
In the following year it was rebuilt by the Hudson's Bay Company,
and from that time was occupied for several years ; but in the spring of
1788 the ground on which it stood was flooded to a depth of several feet,
and Joseph Colen, who was in charge at the time, determined that he
would move it to a higher situation. Accordingly, shortly afterwards, he
commenced to build the fort on its present site, and by 1792 the moving
was completed, and the men with their goods and supplies were all at
the new fort.
Until the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway across the con-
tinent in 1885, the trading goods for the whole of the interior of the
western country from Hudson Bay to the Rocky Mountains, and even
beyond these mountains, were brought here from England, whence they
were distributed by canoes or boats throughout the interior country, and
the same boats which took the supplies into the country brought back to
York Factory loads of furs which were carried to England and were dis-
posed of in the markets of London.
Since the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, over which trading
goods and furs can be easily carried in and out of the country, the im-
portance of York Factory £is a centre of distribution has greatly decreased,
until now it is merely a distributing point for a few small fur-trading stations
within a radius of a few hundred miles that as yet have no easier and
more rapid mode of access to the civilized world.
40 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
is sadly blocked up with ice ; the Ship anchors in the mouth
of the River, about five miles below the Factory, the whole
attention of all hands is turned with unloading, and reloading
of the Ship ; the time of doing which, depends on the weather,
and takes from ten to fifteen days. The ship having sailed
for London, this may be called the beginning of our year.
The regular occupations of the Factory now commence ;
eight or ten of the best shots among us, among which are sure
to be the clerks, with the few Indians that may be near, are
sent off to the marshes to shoot geese, ducks, cranes &c for
the present supply of the Factory, and to be salted for the
winter. Axes are put in order. Boats got ready with Pro-
visions, and about twenty men sent up the River to the
nearest forests to cut down pine trees, branch them, lop off
the heads, and carry them on their shoulders to the great
wood pile, near the river bank ; the trees are so small that a
man generally carries two, or three, to the wood pile. When
the quantity required for fuel, is thus cut and piled, the wood
is taken by a large sledge drawn by the men to a bay of the
River, where rafts can be made and floated to the Factory,
which is completed in April, but not floated to the Factory
until June and July. Accounts, Books, grouse shooting &c
employ the time of those at the Factory. Winter soon sets
in ; the geese hunters return, and out of them are formed two
parties of three or four men, each for grouse shooting, snare-
ing hares &c. Each party has a canvas tent, Kke a soldier's
bell tent with the top cut off to let the smoke out. Fowling
pieces, ammunition, fish hooks and lines, steel traps and three
weeks of salted provisions, with our bedding of blankets &c
completes our equipment. The shore ice of the River is
now frozen to the width of half a mile, or more ; the current
of the River has much drift ice, it is time for the hunters to
be off, the boats are ready, and we are placed on the ice, with
four flat sleds, and a fine large Newfoundland Dog ; the
Boats return and we are left to our exertions. Our party
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 41
consisted of four men and an Indian woman. We loaded the
sleds with the tent, our baggage and some provisions, leaving
the rest for another trip, each of us hauled about seventy
pounds and the fine dog lOO pounds weight. We proceeded
to a large Brook, called French Creek,^ up which we went
about a mile to where the Pines of the forest were of some
size and clean growth ; the tent poles were now cut, and
placed to form a circular area of about 12 to 14 feet diameter
and 12 feet in heighth ; the door poles are the strongest,
about these poles we wrapped our tents, the fire place is in
the centre, and our beds of pine branches, with a Log next
to the fire. Our furniture [was] a three gallon brass kettle,
with a lesser one for water, two, or three tin dishes, spoons &c.
A Hoard is next made of Logs well notched into each other
of about eight feet in length, six feet wide at the bottom,
five feet in height, and the top narrowed to two feet covered
with Logs to secure our provisions and game from the
carnivorous animals. Our occupations were angHng of Trout,^
snareing of Hares, ^ shooting white Grouse,* trapping of
Martens,^ Foxes ® and Wolverines.'' Our enemy the Polar Bear,
was prowHng about, the sea not being sufficiently frozen to
allow him to catch Seals.
By the latter end of November we had procured sufficient
game to load three flat sleds, for the Factory, hauled by two of
us and our Dog. To arrive at the Factory took us the whole
of the day The same evening W"" Budge, a fine handsome
man, John Alellam, and the Indian woman were frying pork
^ French Creek is below and on the opposite side of Hayes river from
York Factory, and is seven miles distant from it in a direct line. Its
Indian name is Notawatowi Sipi, meaning " The Creek-from-which-you-
f etch-the-people . ' '
"^ Cristivomer naniaycush (\Valbaum). [E. A. P.]
* Lepus americanus Erxleben. [E. A. P.]
* Ptarmigan, Lagopus albus and L. rupestris. [E. A. P.]
* Martes americana ahieticola (Preble). [E. A. P.]
* Alopex lagopus inmtitus (Merriam). [E. A. P.]
' Gulo luscus (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
42 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
and grouse for supper, [when] the smell attracted a Polar
Bear, who marched to the Tent, and around it, his heavy
tread was heard, and no more cooking thought of. As usual
in the evening, the fowling pieces were being washed and
cleaned, and were then not lit for use, but there was a loaded
musquet. At length Bruin found the door, and thrust in his
head and neck, the Tent Poles prevented further entrance.
Budge cHmbed up the tent poles and left Mellam and his
indian woman to fight the Bear, the former snatched up the
Musket, it snapped ; seizing it by the muzzle he broke ojff the
stock on the head of the Bear, and then with hearty blows
appHed the barrel and lock to his head ; the indian woman
caught up her axe on the other side of the door, and in Hke
manner struck Bruin on the head, such an incessant storm of
blows, [as] made him withdraw himself ; he went to the
Hoard and began to tear it in pieces, for the game ; a fowling
piece was quickly dried, loaded with two balls, and fired into
him, the wound was mortal, he went a few paces and fell,
with a dreadful growl. Budge now wanted to descend from
the smoky top of the Tent, but the Woman with her axe in
her hand (a-J- lbs) heaped wood on the fire, and threatened to
brain him if he came down. ?Ie begged hard for his Hfe, she
was determined, fortunately Mellam snatched the axe from
her, but she never forgave him, for the indian woman pardons
Man for everything but want of courage, this is her sole
support and protection, there are no laws to defend her.
The next morning on examining the head of the Bear, the
skin was much bruised and cut, but the bone had not a mark
on it. We had two steel traps of double springs, with strong
iron teeth, weighing each seventy pounds, and five feet in
length, for Wolves ^ and Wolverines : one of these was baited
with a Grouse, and placed on the ice at the mouth of the
brook, a Polar Bear took the bait, the iron teeth closed on his
head, he went about half [a] mile and then laid down ; the
* Canis occidentalis Richardson. [E. A, P.]
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 43
next morning we traced the Bear, he rose up, a curious looking
figure with a trap of five feet across his nose, he went directly
for the sea, and we respectfully followed ; our guns had only
small shot ; when arrived at the edge of the ice. Bruin made
a halt, and no doubt thought such a trap across his nose
would be an impediment to swimming, and catching Seals,
wisely determined to get rid of it, turning round and looking
at us, he bent his head and the trap on the ice, and placing
his heavy fore paws on each of the springs, he loosened himself
from the trap, and looking at us with an air of contempt,
dashed into the sea, and swam away. We got the trap, but
his heavy paws had broken one of the springs and rendered
the trap useless. The other hunting party about three miles
to the eastward of us had also the visit of a Polar Bear ; one
evening from the smell of fried pork and grouse, he came to
the tent, marched round, and round it, but found no entrance,
his heavy tread warned the inmates to be on their guard.
The bear reared himself up on the tent, he placed the claws
of his fore paws through the canvas, the man opposite ready
with his gun, guided by his paws, fired and mortally wounded
him ; but in faUing the Bear brought down the tent and
tent poles, under which, with the bear were three men and
one woman, whom, the Bear in the agonies of death, sadly
kicked about, until relieved by the man who had shot the
Bear, the tent was drawn over his head, and he was free.
I must return to our occupations ; of the speckled Trout *
we caught about ten dozen of two to three pounds weight,
through holes in the ice of the brook, they were readily
caught with a common hook and line, baited with the heart of
a Grouse ; as the cold increased and the thickness of the ice,
the Trout went to deeper water, where we could not find
them. The Hares, when they go to feed, which is mostly
in the night time, keep a regular path in the snow, across
which a hedge is thrown of pine trees of close branches, but
^ Cristivomer namaycush (Walbaum). [E. A. P.]
44 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
cut away at the path ; a long pole is tied to a tree, in such a
manner that the butt end shall overbalance the upper end
and the weight of a hare ; to this end the snare of brass wire
is tied by a piece of strong twine, this end of the pole is tied
to the tree laid across the path, by a slip knot, and the snare
suspended at four inches above the snow. The Hare comes
bounding along, enters the snare, the slip knot is undone, the
top of the pole is free, the butt end by it's weight descends,
and Puss is suspended by the snare about six to eight feet
above the surface of the snow. This height is required to
prevent them being taken by Foxes and Martens. The other
Hares that follow this path, have for the night a free passage ;
but the next day the snare is reset, until no more can be
caught ; where the Hares are plenty, hedges of pine trees,
with their branches extend 200 yards, or more, in length ;
on a fine Moonlight night the Hares move about freely, and
from eighteen to twenty [are] caught in a night, but in bad
weather, three, or four, or none ; the average may be six to
eight p"^ night : of all furrs the furr of the hare is the warmest,
we place pieces of it in our mittens, the skin is too thin for any
other purpose. When the cold becomes very severe, we leave
off snareing until February or March, as the Hares lie still.
There are two species of white Grouse, the Rock ^ and the
Willow, the former is a lesser species with a black stripe round
the upper eyelid, and feeds among the rocks. The willow
Grouse^ has a red stripe round the upper eyelid, is a finer
bird than the rock grouse, and one fifth larger : they are
both well feathered to the very toe nails ; all their feathers are
double. He close on each other, two in one quill, or socket,
and appear as one feather ; the under side of the foot have
hard, rough, elastic feathers like bristles. The white Grouse,
in the very early part of winter, arrive in small flocks of ten
to twenty, but as the winter advances and the cold increases,
* Lagopus rupestris (Gmelin). [E. A. P.]
* Lagopus a Ibus (Gmelin). [E. A. P.]
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 45
they become more plentiful, and form flocks of fifty to one
hundred ; they Hve on the buds of the willows, which cover
the ground between the sea shore and the pine forests ; on
the south side of Hayes's River, there is a strip of alluvial
formed by a few bold Brooks of half, to one mile in width,
and about ten miles in length, next to impassable in summer
for marsh and water, where they feed ; they are shot on the
ground as they feed : at first each man may average ten
grouse p' day ; but by the beginning of December they
become numerous, and the average of each man may be
about twenty p" day. Each grouse weighs two pounds,
forming a good load to walk with in snow shoes ; and at length
to carry to the tent ; when the feathers are taken off, the
bowels taken out, and in this state [they are] put into the
hoard to freeze, and thus taken to the Factory ; they now
average one pound each, and the feathers of twenty grouse
weigh one pound. At night the Grouse, each singly, burrows
in the snow, and when the cold is intense, do the same in the
middle of the day. However intense the cold, even to
85 degrees below the freezing point, I never knew any to
perish with cold, when not wounded ; the same of all other
birds, kind Providence has admirably adapted them to the
climate.
After the bitter cold of December and January is passed,
they congregate in large flocks. Each man now bags from
thirty to forty grouse p' day, but as this is a Load too heavy
to hunt with, part is buried in the Snow and only taken up
when going to the Tent. The weather now allowing us to
load our guns ; for in the intense cold, the shot is no sooner
fired than our hands are in our large mittens ; we walk and
pick up the bird, then get the powder in, and walk again, at
length [put in] the shot, and the gun is loaded ; it is needless
to say, exposed to such bitter cold, with no shelter, we cannot
fire many shots in a short day. Gloves are found to be worse
than useless.
46 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
In the latter end of February, the month of March, and
to the end of the season, the Grouse are netted, during which
[time] not a shot is fired, except at Hawks : ^ They are a great
plague to us, as the flocks were going before us, by short
flights, a Hawk appearing, they dived down under the Snow,
and for some time staid there. For this purpose a large snow
drift is chosen, level on the top, or made so, on which is placed
a square net of strong twine of twenty feet each side, well
tied to four strong poles, the front side is supported by two
uprights, four feet in height ; to which is tied a strong Hne of
about fifty feet in length, conducted to a bush of willows,
the side poles being about four feet longer than the other, the
back of the net is also lifted up about two feet above the
snow, so as to leave room for the grouse to pass ; two, or three
bags of fine gravel are brought, and laid under the centre of
the net, mixed with willow buds taken out of the crops of
the Grouse we have shot, these are gently dried over the fire
to make them look Hke fresh buds : at first we have no great
difficulty in starting and guiding the flocks towards the net,
and so soon as we can bring them within view of the gravel
and buds, they eagerly run to them, and crowd one on another,
the man at the end of the Hne pulls away the two uprights,
the net falls, we directly run and throw ourselves on the net,
as the strong efforts of forty or flfty of these active birds
might make an opening in the net. We have now to take
the neck of each grouse between our teeth, and crack the neck
bone, without breaking the skin, and drawing blood, which
if done, the foxes destroy the part of the net on which is
blood and around it, which sometimes happens to our vexation,
and we have to mend the net. Although for the first few
days we may net 120 Grouse p' day, yet in about a fortnight
they become so tame, they no longer form a large flock, and
at length we are obHged to drive them before us Hke barn
^ The Gyrfalcons, Falco islandus Briinnich, and F. i. gyrfalco Linn.,
and the Goshawk, are inveterate enemies of the ptarmigan. [E. A. P.]
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 47
door fowls, by eight or ten at a time, for every haul of the
net, and thus in the course of a long day, we do not net
more than forty to sixty grouse. In these months they have
a pleasing cheerful call, in the early and latter parts of the
day, of Kabow, Kabow, Kow a e. The hens have the same
call, but in a low note. In bad weather the willow grouse
shelters itself under the snow, but the Rock grouse run about,
as if enjoying the Storm. During the winter whatever may
be the number of the flock, and however near to each other,
each burrows singly in the snow, their feathers are of a
brilliant white, if possible whiter than the snow. In the
months of March and April, part of the feathers, particularly
about the neck, and the fore part of the body, change color
to a glossy brown, or deep chocolate, upon a ground of
brilliant white, very beautiful, and in this state are often
stuffed and sent to London. No dove is more meek than the
white grouse, I have often taken them from under the net,
and provoked them all I could without injuring them, but
aU was submissive meekness. Rough beings as we were,
sometimes of an evening we could not help enquiring why
such an angehc bird should be doomed to be the prey of
carnivorous animals and birds, the ways of Providence are
unknown to us. They pair in May, and retire to the Pine
Forests, make their nests on the ground, under the low
spreading branches of the dwarf Pine, they lay from eleven
to thirteen eggs, the young, from the shell, are very active
and follow their dam. There is a third species caUed the
Pine, or Swamp, grouse,^ of dark brown feathers, it feeds on
the leaves of the white pine, and it's flesh tastes of the pine
on which it feeds ; it is found sitting on the branches of the
tree, ten, or twelve, feet above the snow, or ground ; it is a
stupid bird, a snare is tied to the end of a stick put round it's
neck and puUed to the ground. It is only eaten for want of
better ; they are not numerous, [are] solitary and never in
^ Spruce Grouse, Canachites canadensis (Linn.). [E, A. P.]
48 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
flocks. A few Pheasants ^ are shot, they are something larger
than the white grouse, of fine dark plumage, but not to be
compared to the English Pheasant. Their habits are much
the same as the white grouse except [that] when they are
started, they fly to, and settle on the Trees, and not on the
snow, or ground. Late in Autumn and early in the Spring
the delicate Snow Bunting ^ appear in small flocks, they are
shot, and also taken by small nets, they are a delicacy for the
table. They fly from place to place, feed on the seeds of grass,
but do not stay more than three weeks each time. The
Tomtits ^ stay all winter, and feed on grass seeds. The hand-
some, Httle curious bird, the Cross Beak,* leave us late in
Autumn and arrive early in March. They are always in small
flocks, and their whole employment seems to be, cutting off
the cones of the Pines, which their cross beaks perform as
with a pair of scissors. The flock takes one tree, if large, at a
time and shower down the Cones Hke hail, I never saw them
feed on them : they remain and breed in the summer. At
all seasons the Butcher bird is with us, and called Whisky] ack,^
from the Indian name " Weeskaijohn." It is a noisy, familiar
bird, always close about the tents, and will alight at the very
doors, to pick up what is thrown out ; he lives by plunder,
and on berries, and what he cannot eat he hides ; it is easily
taken by a snare, and brought into the room, seems directly
quite at home ; when spirits is offered, it directly drinks, is
soon drunk and fastens itself anywhere tiU sober. A Hunter
marching through the forest may see a chance one, but if an
animal is killed, in a few minutes there are twenty of them.
They are a nuisance, picking and dirtying the meat, and
nothing frightens them which the hunter can hang up. When
1 Sharp-tailed Grouse, Pedioecetes phasianellus (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* Plectrophenax nivalis (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* Probably Hudsonian Chickadee, Penthestes hudsonicus (Forster).
[E. A. P.]
* Loxia curvirostra minor (Brehm), and L. leucoptera Gmelin. [E. A. P.]
^ Canada Jay, Perisoreus canadensis (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 49
the cold is intense, the feathers are ruffled out to twice it's
size ; all carnivorous birds appear, as it were, to loosen their
feathers, whereas the Grouse seem to tighten their feathers
around them. The Raven ^ is the same bird here, as over all
the world, stealing and plundering whatever he can, early
and late on the wing, and sometimes taken in the traps not
intended for him. In winter, when taken to shelter, he
ruffles his feathers, and chooses a snug place in the pines
exposed to the sun. The Indians do not Hke the Raven, as
in hunting he often foUows them, and by cawing noise,
startles the animals, so as to make them look about, and be
on their guard ; when in their power he is sure to die. Other
Birds and Animals I shall notice when writing on the interior
countries, except the White Fox ' which is found only along
the sea shore (and not in the interior) and near the mouths
of Rivers ; he is the least in size of aU the Foxes, and the
least in value ; it's skin is worth only, about six to ten shillings ;
like all his species by nature a thief, following the Hunters
to pick up wounded birds, they are readily caught in traps
and killed by set guns. By a well laid Hne of traps and guns,
the produce of the early part of the winter is about six of
these Foxes p"^ night. With all their cunning they are a stupid
animal. On meeting one of them on the ice, I have often
made a trap of pieces of ice, baited it, while he was looking
at me, then retired some forty yards, he would then run to
the trap, look at me as if asking permission to take the bait,
run his head into the trap and be caught ; in this respect he
differs very much from aU the other species. Speaking so
often of traps and set guns, I may as weU describe them :
For a Marten, a throat log, of about 4 feet in length, of a
small pine is first laid on the snow, frequently some branches
under it to keep it from sinking in the snow, two stakes are
then driven, one on each side into the snow and moss near
^ Corvus corax principalis Ridgway. [E. A. P.]
2 Alopex lagopus innuitus (Merriam). [E. A. P.]
D
50 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the middle ; about eight inches from these, other two are
driven, to form a doorway. The sides and back are also of
small stakes ; the neck log is about six feet in length, and
passes thro' between the four stakes a few inches, the other
end rests on some branches on the snow, a small stick of about
six inches, on one end baited with the head of a grouse, the
other end is half round, and rests on the throat log, on which
a post of four inches in height is placed and supports the
neck log, to give free entrance to the animal, the top of the
trap, and above the neck log is well covered with pine branches
to prevent any access to the bait ; other logs are laid on the
neck log for wait to detain the animal, which commonly is
soon dead. These traps are made large, and strong, in pro-
portion to the animal they are intended for. Set guns and
steel traps are weU known to the civilized world.
The month of April, from the thawing of the snow, and
the grouse leaving to make their nests, obliges us to give up
the winter hunting, and we return to the Factory to pass a
dull time until the arrival of the geese, for which we get
ready. In our Tents we had a comfortable fire, and the
chances of the day in shooting, trapping and netting, with a
few hearty curses on the hawks and foxes for the grouse they
took from us, at which they were very clever, frequently
keeping near us, though out of shot, and as soon as we killed
a bird, before we could load the gun, one, or the other,
would pounce on a grouse and carry it off : We had some-
times the satisfaction of seeing these two rogues worry each
other ; the Hawks ^ were mostly of the short wing and could
not carry much, and a grouse weighing about two pounds,
at about two or three hundred yards they had to alight and
tear out the bowels, their favourite food, the fox was upon
them, and made them take another flight. Sometimes the fox
seized the bird, in this case the hawk was continually attacking
him with blows of his claws on his neck, near to his head, the
* Probably the Goshawk, Astur atricapillus (Wilson). [E. A. P.]
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 51
fox sprang at the hawk, to no purpose, and the moment he
put down his head to seize the bird, the hawk again struck
him, and thus the fox made his meal. The long winged
hawks carry a grouse with ease to the Trees, where they are
secure from the foxes. The summer months pass away
without regret, the myriads of tormenting flies allow no re-
spite, and we see the cold months advance with something
like pleasure, for we can now enjoy a book, or a walk. October
and November produce their ice and snow, the Rivers freeze
over and form a solid bridge to cross where we please, our
winter clothing is ready, and gloomy December is on us.
The cold increases continually, with very little relaxation, the
snow is now as dry as dust, about two feet in depth, it adheres
to nothing, we may throw a gun into it and take it up as free
of snow, as if in the air, and no snow adheres to our Snow
Shoes. The Aurora Borealis is seen only to the northward,
sometimes with a tremulous motion, but seldom bright ;
halos of the sun also appear. The month of January comes,
and continues with intense cold ; from the density of the air,
the halos, or mock suns, at times appear as bright as the real
Sun ; but when in this state, betokens bad weather. The
halos of the Moon are also very pleasing.
A curious formation now takes place called Rime, of
extreme thinness, adhering to the trees, willows and every-
thing it can fasten on, it's beautiful, clear, spangles forming
flowers of every shape, of a most brilliant appearance, and the
sun shining on them makes them too dazzling to the sight.
The lower the ground, the larger is the leaf, and the flower ;
this brilliant Rime can only be formed in calm clear weather
and a gale of wind sweeps away all this magic scenery, to
be reformed on calm days ; it appears to be formed of frozen
dew. The actual quantity of snow on the ground is not more
than 2i feet in depth in the woods, clear of drift, very hght
and dry ; almost every fall of snow is attended with a gale
of NE. wind. The falling snow with the moveable snow on
52 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the ground, causes a drift and darkness in which the traveller
is bewildered, and sometimes perishes. The months of
February and March have many pleasant clear days, the
gaudy, spangled Rime is most brilliant, and requires a strong
eye to look upon it. The climate is more moderate, there
are a few fine days, the sun is bright with a little warmth,
the snow lower, but does not thaw. In the months of March
and April, the Snow too often causes snow blindness, of a
most painful nature. As I never had it, I can only describe
the sensations of my companions. Accustomed to march in
all weathers, I had acquired a power over my eyelids to open,
or contract them as circumstances required, and to admit
only the requisite quantity of Hght to guide me, and thus [I]
prevented the painful effects of snow blindness. In the case
of those affected the blue eye suffers first and most, the gray
eye next, and the black eye the least ; but none are exempt
from snow blindness ; the sensations of my companions, and
others, were all the same ; they all complained of their eyes,
being, as it were, full of burning sand ; I have seen hardy men
crying like children, after a hard march of four months in
winter. Three men and myself made for a trading post in
the latter part of March. They all became snow blind, and
for the last four days I had to lead them with a string tied to
my belt, and [they] were so completely bhnd that when they
wished to drink of the Httle pools of melted snow, I had to
put their hands in the water. They could not sleep at night.
On arriving at the trading Post, they were soon relieved by
the application of the steam of boiling water as hot as they
could bear it, this is the Indian mode of cure, and the only
efficient cure yet known, but all complained of weakness of
sight for several months after. Black crape is sometimes used
to protect the eyes from the dazzling light of the snow, but
the Hunter cannot long make use of it, the chase demands
the whole power of his eyesight. When thirsty a mouthful
of snow wets the mouth but does not relieve thirst : the
LIFE AT A TRADING POST 53
water of snow melted by the sun has a good taste, but snow
melted in a kettle over a fire, has a smoky taste, until made
to boil for a few minutes, this takes away the smoky taste,
and snow being put in, makes good water.
Of the native Indians along the shore of Hudson's Bay I
wish to say as Httle as possible. The Company has the Bay in
full possession, and can enforce the strictest temperance of
spirituous liquors, by their orders to their chief Factors, but
the ships at the same time bringing out several hundred gallons
of vile spirits called Eng. Brandy,^ no such morality is thought
of. No matter what service the Indian performs, or does he
come to trade his furrs, strong grog is given to him, and
sometimes for two or three days Men and Women are all
drunk, and become the most degraded of human beings.^
1 In 1785 the Hudson's Bay Company imported to York Factory,
over and above what it had imported to Churchill and Moose Factories,
2,028 gallons of brandy. In 1794, under Colen's regime, the importation of
brandy to the same place rose to 7,900 gallons. In addition to this, the
C-ompany operated a small distillery at York Factory at the same time.
» In Thompson's note-books some pages are taken up by what he calls
" Index of his Journals as Extended," in which he gives the contents of
a number of pages which were not in the original manuscript as I obtained
it, and of which I have been able to find no trace among any of his papers .
It is possible that the pages were never written, though he may have out-
lined their contents. These pages come in at this point in his Journal,
and the following is the extension of the index as he gives it :
"27*- The fur trade H. B. only 2 inland houses.
" 27''- Embark as Clerk to Mr. Mitchell Oman. Tracking.
" 27<=- Description of route to the Great Rapid & C. Place.
" 27<i- Description of route to Cumberland House.
" 27e- Description of route to the Houses for Winter.
" 27*- Cleared ground & builded a house.
"278- Character of our neighbours.
" zi^- Advantages of the Canada Fur traders.
" 27'- Bow River trade in furs & provisions.
"27^- Mr. Hudson, his character.
"271- Cumberland Lake.
" 27">- Up the river to Buckingham House. Outfit to trade.
" 27"- Barter, trade, &c.
" 27°- Eagle catching on conical knolls.
" 27?- Journey to the one Pine. Cut down for one third.
" 27<i- March on. Animals very scarce.
54 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
' 27'- Arrive at the Bow River. Cross it. Meet Peeagans.
' 27»- Lodge with an old man. Basins, &c., return northward.
' 27'" Old Sakka mappi & his native country.
'27". Horses & mules arrive. Kootanae Appee.
' 27'- Kootanae Appee. War Chief.
' 27^'- Right & left hands.
' 27^- Trade. Return to the trading house. Mr. Tomison.
' 27y- Mr. Tomison. Hudson House & horses,
' 272^- How to clear & cool river water.
' 27**- Thirst taken away by bathing.
' 27^*'- The Plaines. Ponds of salt, &c.
' 27"=- Basins. Break my right leg. Cumberland House.
' 27*^- Mr. Turnor arrives. Practical astronomy. Arrive at York
Factory.
"28. York Factory."
CHAPTER III
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 1
Musk Rat country — Boundaries — Frozen soil — Forest — White
Birch — Rind of White Birch — Berries — Misaskutum
Berry — Fish — Pike — Trout — White Fish — Carp —
Sturgeon — Swan — Marten — Accident while trapping Marten
— Nature of Marten — Wolverine — Pranks of Wolverine.
HAVING described what is peculiar to the wild
shores of Hudson's Bay, I now turn to the interior
country, and include a space from Hudson's Bay
of about three hundred miles in width, known to the Fur
Traders by the name of the Musk Rat country. The geology
of this country is quite distinct from the countries westward,
it is composed of granitic and other siHcious Rocks ; from the
parallel of 54 or 55 degrees north, this rocky region extends
northward to the extremity of the continent, and is about
400 miles in width ; to the southward of the above line, this
region extends southward to the coasts of Labrador ; every
where it's character is much the same, almost everywhere
rock covered with moss, the spots of tolerable soil are neither
large, nor frequent, containing very many Lakes, the Streams
from which find their way to the large Rivers. This Region
is bounded on the west by the great chain of Lakes, the prin-
cipal of which are Lake Superior, the Rainy Lake, the Lake of
the Woods, Winepeg, the Cedar, and chain of Lakes north-
* The country here designated the Muskrat country is a portion of
the great Archaean protaxis or hinterland of Canada which is only now
being opened to settlement. The Hudson Bay Railway, which is now
being built, will run through it from The Pas on the Saskatchewan river
to the mouth of the Nelson river.
SS
56 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
ward to the Athabasca and great Slave Lakes. The northern
parts are either destitute of Woods, or they are low and small ;
especially about Hudson's Bay where the ground is always
frozen ; even in the month of August, in the woods, on taking
away the moss, the ground is thawed at most, for two inches
in depth : M' Joseph Colen,^ the Resident at York Factory,
on having a Cellar dug for a new building, found the earth
frozen to the depth of five and a half feet, below which it
was not frozen. All the Trees on this frozen soil have no
tap roots ; their roots spread on the ground, the fibres of
the roots interlace with each other for mutual support ; and
although around Hudson's Bay there is a wide belt of earth
of about one hundred miles in width, apparently of ancient
alluvial from the rounded gravel in the banks of the Rivers,
yet it is mostly all a cold wet soil, the surface covered with
wet moss, ponds, marsh and dwarf trees. The only dry
places are the banks of the Brooks, Rivulets and Lakes. The
rocky region close westward of this coarse alluvial already
noticed, in very many places, especially around it's Lakes,
and their intervals, have fine Forests of Pines, Firs, Aspins,
Poplar, white and grey Birch, Alder and Willow ; all these
grow in abundance, which makes all this region of rock and
Lake appear a dense forest, but the surface of the Lakes
cover full two fifths, or more, of the whole extent. The most
usefuU trees are the White Birch,^ the Larch,^ and the Aspin.*
^ Joseph Colen was one of the clerks at York Factory under Humphrey
Marten when Thompson arrived there in 1785. On the departure of
Marten for England in 1786, Colen succeeded him as Resident in charge
of the fort, and remained in charge until his own recall in 1798. During
these twelve years, he seems to have handled the fur-trade of the Company
in a fairly capable manner, but he was often at cross-purposes with the
Resident in charge of the Churchill district, and he did not get along well
with William Tomison, who was in charge of the Saskatchewan trade, and
who received his supplies from York. After Colen's recall, Tomison was
made President of the Council at York.
"^ Betula papyrifera Marsh. [E. A. P.]
^ Larix laricina (Du Roi). [E. A. P.]
* Populus tremuloides Michx. [E. A. P.]
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 57
The White Birch, besides it's bark, which is good for tanning
leather, has also a Rind which covers the bark, of which
Canoes are made ; this Rind is thick in proportion to the
intense cold of winter where the tree grows, in high Latitudes,
it is one fourth of an inch thick, and wherever the winter
is very cold. On the west side of the Mountains where the
winters are very mild, the Rind is too thin to be of any use ;
it thus appears to be a protection to the tree against the frost.
The Wood of the Birch tree is used for making Sledges and
Sleds, Axe helves and whatever requires strength and neat-
ness, as the frames of Snow Shoes, but does not bear exposure
to wet weather. The Rind is very useful to the natives and
traders for making Canoes, Dishes, coverings for canoes, and
for Tents and Lodges in the open Seasons. The White
Birch is seldom more than four feet in circumference, but to
the branches of which the head is formed, carries this girth
with little diminution ; it can be raised from the bark only
in mild weather, in hot weather it freely comes away, and a
well grown tree will give from fifteen to thirty feet of Birch
Rind ; it requires a practised Man to raise it without injuring
it. The rind is never renewed, and the bark not having the
shelter of the rinds becomes full of cracks, and the tree decays.
In the spring of the year incisions in the tree yield a sap,
which is boiled to a well tasted syrup. The grey birch ^
grows among the Rocks, it [is] a dwarf tree, crooked, knotty,
and full of branches ; it's wood is stronger than the white
birch ; it's rind too thin to be of use, it has many tatters
hanging to it, which are much used for quickly Ughting a
fire. The Larch is well known, a strong elastic wood, and
make the best of Sleds. The poplar "^ and aspin,^ make the best
of fire wood for a tent, [as] the wood does not sparkle, and
the smoke is mild ; the smoke of no other woods should be
^ Probably Betiila glandulosa Michx. [E. A. P.]
* Populus balsamifera Linn. [E. A. P.]
^ P. tremuloides. [E. A. P.]
58 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
used for drying meat and fish. The smoke of these woods
preserves both and gives an agreeable taste ; in places, there
are fine forests of aspins of six inches to one foot diameter,
and thirty to forty feet without branches. The White and
Red Firs grow on a sandy soil, they are of dwarf growth, and
full of knots and branches. There are four species of the
Pine,^ besides the Cypress ; ^ the white Spruce ^ is noted for it's
fine spreading branches, which form the beds of the traveller
and the hunter ; In the frozen cHme of Hudson's Bay, only
half of this tree can be used, the north east side being very
brittle, and can hardly be called wood. The other Pines are
mostly found in the interior, they thrive most near Lakes
and Rivers, and in favorable places are of six feet girth, and
forty to fifty feet in height.
By the Natives the saplings of these serve for tent poles,
laths and timbers for canoes, by the traders, the same pur-
poses, and building of Houses. Of Berries there are twenty
species all known in europe but one. They are, the dry * and
swamp Cranberry,^ the Crow ® and Black Berries, two kinds of
Raspberries ; ^ the Strawberry ; ^ two kinds of Cherry's,^ both
are small. White and Red Currants ; ^^ the black Currant,^^ a
.mild purgative ; two kinds of Gooseberries,^" two of Hipber-
ries ; ^^ the Juniper berry ; " the Eye berry : ^^ the Bear Berry ;^^
1 The only true pine is Pinus divaricata (Ait.). [E. A. P.]
^ Probably White Cedar, Thuja occidentalis Linn. [E. A. P.]
* Picea canadensis (Mill.). [E. A. P.]
* Probably Vaccinium vitisidcsa. [E. A. P.]
^ Probably Oxycocctts oxycoccus (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* Empetrum nigrum Linn. [E. A. P.]
' Rubus strigosus Michx., and R. chamcBtnorus Linn. [E. A. P.]
* Fragaria canadensis (Michx.). [E. A. P.]
» Prunus virginiana Linn., and P. pennsylvanica Linn. [E. A. P.]
1° Red Currant, Ribes rubrum Linn. [E. A. P.]
" Ribes hudsonianuni Richardson. [E. A. P.]
" Northern Gooseberry, Ribes oxyacanthoides Linn. [E. A. P.]
1* Wild Rose, Rosa acicularis Lindl. [E. A. P.]
1* Probably Juniperus sabina Linn. [E. A. P.]
1* Rubus arcticus Linn. [E. A. P.]
!• Arctostaphylos tiva-ursi (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 59
this has a low spreading plant which lies flat on the ground,
it has it's use in medicine ; the Natives collect and dry the
leaves, wherever it can be procured ; it is mixed with tobacco
for smoking, giving to the smoke a mild, agreeable flavour.
A berry of an agreeable acid called the Summer berry,^ it
ripens late in Autumn, the Shrub of this berry has a large
pith, takes a good polish and is used for Pipe Stems ; and the
Misaskutum berry,^ perhaps peculiar to north america ; the
berry grows abundantly on willow like shrubs, is of the color
of deep blue, or black ; the size of a full grown green pea,
very sweet and nourishing, the favorite food of small birds,
and the Bears. They are very wholesome, and may safely be
eaten as long as the appetite continues ; they are much
sought after by the Natives, they collect and dry them in
quantities for future use ; and mixed with Pimmecan, be-
comes a rich and agreeable food. The wood is of a fine size
for arrows, and where this can be got, no other is employed ;
it is weighty, pliant, and non-elastic. As this berry is pre-
ceded by a beautiful flower, and the berry is as rich as any
currant from Smyrna and keeps as well, it ought to be culti-
vated in Canada, and in England.
The Rivers and Lakes have Pike,^ (the water wolf.) He
preys on every fish he can master, even on his own species ;
he seises his prey by the middle of the back, and keeps his
hold until it is dead : when he swallows it. It catches readily
at any bait, even a bit of red rag. It is a bold active fish,
and in summer is often found with a mouse in it's stomach.
It's jaws are strong, set with sharp teeth, somewhat curved,
it is of aU sizes from one to fifteen pounds ; it is seldom
found in company with the Trout,* which last appears to be
* Viburnum opulus Linn. [E. A. P.]
* Amelanchier alnifolia Nutt. This is the Saskatoon or Service
Berry. [E. A. P.]
^ Esox lucius Linn. [E. A. P.]
* Cristivomer vamaycush (Walb.). [E. A. P.]
60 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the master fish, for where they are found In the same Lake,
the Pike are confined to the shallow bays. The Trout to
attain to a large size, they require to be in extensive deep
Lakes. In this region they are from one to twenty pounds.
They are as rich as meat. The white fish ^ is well known, their
quaHty and size depends much on the depths of the Lakes.
In shoal Lakes they are generally poor, and in deep Lakes fat
and large, they are almost the sole subsistence of the Traders
and their men in the winter, and part of the summer : they
are caught in nets of five to six inches mesh, fifty fathoms in
length, and five to six feet in depth ; which are set and
anchored by stones in three to five fathoms water, if possible
on sandy, or fine gravel, bottom. They weigh from two to ten
pounds. They are a delicate fish, the net ought not to stand
more than two nights, then [it ought to be] taken up and
washed in hot water, dried and mended : Some of the Lakes
have only a fall fishery and another in the spring, in this case
the fish are frozen, and lose part of their good taste. Fish do
not bear keeping, the maxim is ; " from the hook or the net
directly into the kettle " of boiHng water. Those who live
wholly on fish, without any sauce, and frequently without
salt, know how to cook fish in their best state, for sauces
make a fish taste well, which otherwise would not be eatable.
There are two species of Carp, the red " and grey ; ^ the former
is a tolerable fish ; the latter is so full of small bones, only
the head and shoulders are eaten. They spawn in the spring,
on the small Rapids, are in shoals, the prey of the Eagle, the
Bear, and other animals. The Sturgeon * to be good must be
caught in muddy Lakes, he is the fresh water hog, fond of
being in shoal alluvials ; in such lakes it is a rich fish ; but in
clear water not so good ; they weigh from ten to fifty pounds.
^ Several species of Coregonus. [E. A. P.]
^ Catostomus catostomus (Forster). [E. A. P.]
^ Moxostoma lesneuri (Richardson). [E. A. P.]
* Acipenser rubicundus Le Sueur. [E. A. P.]
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 61
The Pickerel/ the Perch ^ and Methy ^ are all common ;
these are all the varieties of fish found in this region worth
notice.
With the Spring a variety of small birds arrive, they
breed and remain during the summer, and depart for the
southward in Autumn, they are all known to Europe. The
Whippoorwill * arrives in the month of March. In the after-
noon and evening as well as the morning, he flits from tree
to tree about ten feet above the snow, with it's head down-
wards, repeats it's cry of Whip poor will for two, or three
minutes, and then flies to another tree ; only one species is
known. The natives regard it as a peculiar bird and never
hurt it. In some summers the flocks of Pigeons ^ are numerous,
and make sad havoc of the Straw and Raspberries, in other
summers they are very few. The Rooks ^ arrive in the latter
end of April. The Natives regard the time of their arrival
as the sure sign that winter has passed away, and the mild
weather set in. The British population in Canada call them
Crows, which latter bird is not known in North America.
Two species of Eagle visit us, the large brown Eagle' is seen
in March, and gives it's name to the Moon of this month ;
it is merely a visitor, soars high, seldom alights, and then
shows itself a most majestic bird ; it is sometimes shot, as the
Natives set a high value on its plumage, and respect it as the
master of all other birds ; from the tip of one wing to the tip
of the other wing, it has been measured nine feet ; it's talons
are long, very curved and strong, and it strikes with great
1 Probably Stizostedion vitreum (Mitchill), the Wall-eyed Pike or Pike-
perch. [E. A. P.]
* The Yellow Perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), is probably found in the
southern part of the region. [E. A. P.]
^ Lota maculosa (Le Sueur). [E. A. P.]
* I am unable to decide what bird is meant ; perhaps some small owl,
but certainly not the Whip-poor-will. [E. A. P.]
* Ectopistes migratorius (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* The American Crow, Corviis brachyrhynchos Brehm. [E. A. P.]
' Aquila chryscBtos (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
62 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
force ; it is supposed capable of carrying off a bird equal to
it's own weight, which is ten to twelve pounds, some have
weighed fourteen pounds ; yet the great Eagle of the Plains
is larger than these. The Gray Goose ^ is accounted a very
swift bird on the wing, at a distance we perceived a flock of
these geese pursued by an Eagle. The latter did not seem to
gain much on the former, they passed about one hundred
yards from us (out of shot), the Eagle was then close to them,
and going a short distance further, it came up to the third
goose from the rear, and with one of it's claws, drove it's
talons thro' the back of the goose close behind the wings, it
fell as if shot, the Eagle stooped to take it, we ran and
frightened it away ; and it kept on its flight after the other
geese ; we picked up the goose, quite dead, the claws had
perforated through the back bone over the heart. As they
passed us, we remarked, the Eagle gained fast on the geese.
The Hawks in like manner strike the birds they prey on ;
The Natives say the Eagle readily carries off Ducks and Hares,
but the gray goose is too heavy for him, but he soon tears it
to pieces with his sharp crooked beak ; the Fox will contend
with the Hawks for the birds they kill in the great Marshes
and plains, but never with the Eagle. The wolf tries for the
prey of the latter, and is sure to be beaten.
The other species of Eagle is the White Headed,^ from the
head and upper part of the neck being covered with white
feathers which lie close on each other, it is called the bald-
headed Eagle. I believe it to be peculiar to North America,
the color of the rest of the neck, and of the body, is all the
shades of a deep brown, with tinges of dark yellow. It lives
mostly on fish, without any objection to a chance hare or
duck. They are generally found in pairs, and build their
nest in the branches of a poplar, close to the banks of a Lake,
or River ; like the other species they lay only two, or three
1 Branta canadensis (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* Haliceetus leucocephaliis alascanus Townsend. [E. A. P.]
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 63
eggs, and rears it's young with great care : as it is, compara-
tively, slow of flight, although it's wings extend seven to
eight feet, it hovers over the surface of the water, [looking]
for some fish of a weight that it can take out of the water,
and carry off to it's nest. That it is successful the old, and
young eagles, attest by their fatness ; the inside fat is
purgative, and when they feed on trout, highly so : their
flesh is eaten by the Natives, as being more fat and juicy,
and [they] prefer them to Grouse. They seize their prey by
the back, between the fins, and if weighty, make for the
shore ; and there with their beak cut off the head of the
fish, and thus take it to the nest. It sometimes strikes a fish
too weighty for it, in this case the fish carries the Eagle under
water where it loosens it's claws, and comes to the surface,
its feathers all wet. It floats well, but as it cannot swim, is
drifted to the shore by the wind or current, and must wait
for it's feathers to dry, before it can take flight.
There are five species of Hawk, three pass the winter.
They prey on everything they can master. There are four
species of the owl, one of them is very small. Two of the
others are large, one of these is called the great White Owl ; ^
it weighs from ten to twelve pounds : the other is the noted
Horned Owl,^ so named from it's having on each side of the
head, stiff, erect, feathers in shape and size, Hke the ears of
the White Fox ; it is a fine looking, grave bird, with large
lustrous eyes, and in the dark sees remarkably well, and preys
wholly in the night. They are easily tamed, I have often
kept one during the winter ; it lived chiefly on mice, which
it never attempts to swallow until it is sure it is dead, of this
it judges by the animal ceasing to move ; perched on it's
stand, and a live mouse presented to it, with its formidable
talons, it seized the mouse by the loins, and instantly carried
it to its mouth, and crushed the head of the mouse ; still
1 Nyctea nyctea (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* Bubo virginianus subarcticus Hoy. [E. A. P.]
64 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
holding it in one of it's claws, it watched till all motion
ceased and then head foremost swallowed the mouse : often
while the owl was watching the cessation of motion, with
the end of a small willow, I have touched the head of the
mouse, which instantly received another crush in it's beak,
and thus [it] continued till it was weary, when losening it's
claws, it seized the mouse by the head ; by giving motion to
the body, it crushed it, and have thus vexed it until the
body was in a pulp, yet the skin whole ; by leaving the Mouse
quiet for about half a minute, it was swallowed ; from
seve[ral] experiments I concluded that to carnivorous birds,
the death of its prey is only known by the cessation of
motion : like all other birds that swallow their prey whole,
the hair, if an animal, or the feathers if a bird, are by some
process in the stomach, rolled into hard, small, round balls,
and ejected from the mouth with a slight force. The meat
of the Owl is good and well tasted to hunters. The aquatic
birds are more numerous, and in great variety : but they
pass to the southward as the cold weather comes on. They
arrive in the month of May, and leave us by the middle, or
latter end of October, as the season may be. There are two
species of Swan, the largest ^ weighs about twenty four pounds,
the lesser ^ about fifteen, when fat. They lay from seven to
nine eggs. When shot, twelve eggs have been counted in
them ; but nine is the greatest number I have found in a
nest, and also of the number they rear ; when fat they are
good eating, but when poor the flesh is hard and dry. They
are a shy bird, and their nests not often found : they frequent
the lesser Lakes ; and seldom approach the shores. The
Natives often shoot them in the night ; for this purpose, fir
wood, spHt into laths, to burn freely, is made into small
parcels, one of which is placed in an old kettle, or one made
of wood, placed on a strong, short, stick, to keep it two, or
1 Trumpeter Swan, Olor buccinator (Richardson). [E. A. P.]
* Whistling Swan, Olor columbianus (Ord). [E. A. P.]
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 65
three feet above the Canoe. When it is quite dark, two
Indians embark, one steers the Canoe quietly, and steadily,
towards the Swans, (they keep near each other ;) the other is
in the bow of the Canoe, with his gun, and the torch wood ;
which is lighted and soon in full blaze, and is kept in this
state by the man in the bow ; as soon as the Swans perceive
the fire, they commence, and continue their call of Koke,
Koke. They appear aware of danger, but are fascinated by
the fire, they keep calling and swimming half round, and back
in the same place, gazing on the fire ; until the Canoe is
within about thirty yards, when the bow man, by the light
of the fire, levels his gun, and shoots the Swan nearest to him ;
if he has two guns the other Swan is shot as he rises on his
flight. Another mode by which the Swan is enticed within
shot, is, the Indian lies down in some long grass rushes, or
willows near the edge of the Lake, with a piece of very white
birch rind in his hand, or fastened to a short stick ; this is
made to show like a Swan, and the call made ; then drawn
back ; then again shown ; thus it attracts the Swans who
gently approach, to within shot ; this requires great patience,
perhaps three, or four hours. It is more successful with a
single Swan, than with a pair, or more. The several species
of Geese I have akeady noticed : but very few breed in this
region, and those only of the Gray Geese,^ they lay from eleven
to thirteen Eggs ; which they will defend against the Fox
and the Mink to no purpose, the Eggs are sure to be eaten and
perhaps one of the geese.
There is a great variety of Ducks, some of them lay fifteen
eggs. The young are reared with great care, in a heavy-
shower of rain the young are aU under their parents wings ;
one variety builds in hollow trees, which it enters by a hole
in the side of the tree ; and is named the Wood Duck.^ Two
1 Branta canadensis (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* The reference is probably to the American Goldeneye, Clangula c.
americana Bonap. [E. A. P.]
E
66 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
species of Crane ^ pass the open season, they make their nests
among quagmire rushes, which cannot be approached ; they
have about nine young, which are hidden until they are fully
half grown. The Bittern^ is found among the rushes, reeds,
and tall grass of the marshes. It does not weigh more than
three, or four, pounds, and holding it's long neck and bill
erect it gives a hollow note, as loud almost as an Ox. And
keeping itself hid, those not acquainted with it, are at a loss to
know what animal it can be ; it takes it's name from having
on each breast a narrow stripe about two inches in length,
of rough, raised, yellow skin, which is very bitter, and must
be taken off, otherwise, this well tasted bird is too bitter to
be eaten. Like the Crane, it lives on Roots, frogs and small
lizards. Of the Plover, there are a few species, they are not
plenty, the Boys kill them with their arrows. The water is
the element of the Loon,^ on the land he is unable to walk,
his legs being placed too far backwards, nor from the ground
can he raise his flight, and is quite helpless ; but in the water,
of all birds he is the most completely at home. He swims
swiftly and dives well, going under water apparently with
the same ease, as on the surface ; he has the power of placing
his body at any depth, and when harassed in a small lake,
places his body under water to be secure from the shot,
leaving only his neck and head exposed and this he sinks to
the head ; in any of these positions he remains at pleasure ;
he prefers acting thus on the defensive, than flying away, for
being very short winged, he has to go some thirty yards near
the surface before he can raise his flight, and is so steady on
the wing, that he is accounted a dead shot : the Loon is
very destructive among the small fish, yet seldom fat : it
lays only three eggs, when boiled, the inside appears streaked
* Brown Crane, Grus canadensis (Linn.) ; and Whooping Crane, Grus
americana (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* Botaurus lentiginosus (Montagu). [E. A. P.]
* Gavia immer (Briinn.). [E. A. P.]
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 67
black and yellow, and [they] are so ill tasted they cannot be
eaten, it's flesh is also bad. When on discovery to the north-
ward, one evening on camping we found a Loons nest ; the
eggs were taken, but were found not to be eatable : two
Lads lay down near the nest, in the night the pair of Loons
came, and missing their eggs, fell upon the Lads, screeching
and screaming, and beating them with their wings ; the Lads
thought themselves attacked by enemies, and roared out for
help ; two of us threw off our blankets and seized our guns,
the Loons seeing this returned to the Lake, we were at a loss
what to think or do, the Lads were frightened out of their
wits ; in a few minutes we heard the wild call of the Loons ;
the Indian said it was the Loons, in revenge for the loss of
their eggs ; and giving them his hearty curse of " death be
to you," told us there was no danger, and the Loons left us
quiet for the rest of the night. The PeHcan ^ is represented
as a soHtary bird, it may be so in other countries ; but not in
this region. They are always in pairs, or in flocks of five to
twenty. This is the largest fishing bird in the country, it is
occasionally shot, or knocked on the head for it's feathers and
pouch ; the color is a dirty white, the wings extend about
seven and a half feet ; it's height is about thirty to thirty
four inches, of which the bill, which is straight, measures
about fourteen inches, it is capacious, and under the bill and
upper part of the throat is a pouch that will hold a full
quart of water. This bird when measured from the end of
the tail to the point of the beak is about five feet in length ;
it's tail feathers are used for arrows, and the pouch, when
cleaned and dried, is used to keep tobacco and Bear's weed
for smoking ; The Pelican is very destructive among small
fish to a pound in weight. It has a wide throat, and after
filling it's stomach, also fills it's pouch, which becomes much
distended, and half putrid, is, fish by fish, emptied into the
^ White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmel. [E. A. P.]
68 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
throat. Such is it's fishing habits in the morning, and the
same in the afternoon ; they frequent the Rapids of small
Streams, and when thus gorged sit close to each other in a
line. In this state they are unable to fly, and when our
voyage in canoes leads us among them, before they can rise,
they have to disgorge the putrid fish in their pouches, the
smell of which is so very bad, that we hury past as fast as
possible ; the Black Bears, ^ who frequent the same Rapids,
never injure them ; these birds are so impure, they are the
bye word of the Natives and the Traders, There are two
species of Cormorant,^ both of them very expert in fishing,
their flesh and Eggs are almost as bad as those of the Loon ;
There are also several species of the Merganser, or fishing
Ducks, ^ altho' they live on fish, yet both their flesh and eggs
are eatable, when no better can be got : The three species
of Gulls * conclude the list of birds that Hve on fish ; they are
all good to eat, their eggs are good as those of a Duck, especi-
ally the largest kind which is the size of a teal duck ; their
young cannot fly until they are full grown, and as all the
species are too Hght to dive, become an easy prey to the Eagle,
the Hawk, and to Man : On some of the Islets in the Lakes,
they breed in such numbers that the Native Women collect
as many as their blankets can hold.
AH the Animals of this Region are known to the civilized
world, I shall therefore only give those traits of them which
naturaHsts do not, or have not noticed in their discriptions .
There are two species of the Mouse, the common,^ and the
1 Ursus americanus Pallas. [E. A. P.]
* But one species, Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson). [E. A. P.]
* Common Merganser, Mergus americanus Cass. ; Red-breasted Mer-
ganser, Mergus serrator Linn. ; and Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cuctil-
latus (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* The three most likely to be referred to are the Herring Gull, Lams
argentatus Pontoppidan ; Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis Ord ; and
the Common Tern, Sterna hirundo Linn. [E. A. P.]
' White-footed Mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus borealis Mearns.
[E. A. P.]
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 69
field Mouse ^ with a short tail ; they appear to be numerous,
and build a House where we will, as soon as it is inhabited
they make their appearance ; but the country is clear of the
plague of the Norway Rat,^ which, although he comes from
England, part owner of the cargo, as yet has not travelled
beyond the Factories at the sea side. The Ermine,^ this active
little animal is an Ermine only in winter, in summer of a
light brown color, he is most indefatigable after mice and
small birds, and in the season, a plunderer of eggs ; wherever
we build, some of them soon make their burrows, and some-
times become too familiar. Having in June purchased from
a Native about three dozen of Gull eggs, I put them in a
room, up stairs, a plain flight of about eight feet. The Ermine
soon found them, and having made a meal of one egg, was
determined to carry the rest to his burrow for his young ;
I watched to see how he would take the eggs down stairs ;
holding an egg between his throat and two fore paws, he came
to the head of the stairs ; there he made a long stop, at a
loss how to get the egg down without breaking it, his resolu-
tion was taken, and holding fast to the egg dropped down to
the next stair on his neck and back ; and thus to the floor,
and carried it to his nest : he returned and brought two
more eggs in the same manner ; while he was gone for the
fourth, I took the three eggs away ; laying down the egg he
brought, he looked all around for the others, standing on his
hind legs and chattering, he was evidently in a fighting
humour ; at length he set off and brought another, these
two I took away, and he arrived with the sixth egg, which I
allowed him to keep ; he was too fatigued to go for another.
The next morning he returned, but the eggs were in a basket
out of his reach, he knew where they were but could not get
1 Meadow Mouse, Microtus pennsylvanicus drummondi (Aud. and
Bach.). [E. A. P.]
* Epimys norvegicus Erxleben. [E. A. P.]
3 Mustela cicognani Bonap. [E. A. P.]
70 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
at them, and after chattering awhile, had to look for other
prey. In winter we take the Ermine in small traps for the
skin, which is valued to ornament dresses.
There are two separate species of Squirrel, the common ^
and the flying Squirrel,^ the former burrows under the roots
of large Pines, from which he has several outlets, [so] that
when the Marten, or the Fox dig for him, he has a safe egress,
and escapes up the tree with surprising agiHty, where he is
safe. The flying Squirrel is about one fifth larger, and of
the same color, it's name arises from a hairy membrane, which
on each side extends from the fore to the hind leg : and which
it extends when leaping from tree to tree ; this latter builds
it's nest in the trees ; they both feed on the cones of the
Pine, using only those in a dry state ; they are numerous ;
their elegant forms, agile movements, and chatterings, very
much reheve the silence of the Pine Forests. The haunts of
the Marten^ are confined to the extensive forests of Pine,
especially the thickest parts, they are of the size of a large cat,
but of a more compact and stronger make ; the color brown,
the deeper color the more valuable, some few approach to a
black color ; two he, or three she Martens, in trade are of
the value of one Beaver. They are always on the hunt of
mice, squirrels and birds : They are caught in traps, already
described ; and as their skins are valuable, and their flesh
good, they are trapped by the Natives and the Men of the
Factories : the best bait for them is the head of a Grouse
with the feathers on ; or the head of a hare ; even the leg
of a hare is preferred to a bait of frozen meat, which he
seldom takes. Among the Natives the snareing of hares, and
trapping of Martens are the business of the Women, and
become their property for trade. The White Men sometimes
make ranges of Marten Traps for the length of forty or fifty
1 Spruce Squirrel, Sciurus htidsonicus Erxleben. [E. A. P.]
* Sciuropterus sabrinus (Shaw). [E. A. P.]
* Maries americana abieticola (Preble). [E. A. P.]
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 71
miles, at about six to eight traps p' mile : in this case the
Trapper makes a hut of Pine Branches about every ten miles,
which length of traps is as much as he can manage in a day ;
the trapping is most successful in the month of November
and early part of December : and the months of February
and March, after which the skin soon becomes out of season.
At each hut the Trapper ought to leave a stock of fire wood
sufficient for the next night he passes there, as he frequently
does not arrive until the daylight is gone, and cutting wood
in the night is dangerous. An old acquaintance who had a
long range of traps, had neglected to leave fire wood at the
hut at the end of the range, arriving late in the evening had
to cut fire wood for the night, with aU his caution a twig
caught the axe and made the blow descend on his foot, which
was cut from the little toe, to near the instep ; he felt the
blood gushing, but finished cutting the wood required ;
having put everything in order, he took off his shoe and the
two blanket socks, tore up a spare shirt, and bound up the
wound, using for salve a piece of tallow ; he was six days
journey from the Factory and alone ; the next morning,
having mended his shoe and socks he got them on, but how
to march forward was the difficulty ; a hut with firewood at
the end of every ten miles along the range was some encourage-
ment ; having tied his blankets and little baggage on the flat
sled which every Trapper has, with pain he tied his foot to
the snow shoe, then tied a string to the bar of the snow-
shoe, the other end in his hand, thus set off alone, to perform
a winter journey of about one hundred and twenty miles,
hauling a sled, and with one hand Hfting his wounded foot,
the Snow Shoe was steady and soft on the snow ; the first
mile made him stop several times, and shook his resolution ;
but continuing his foot became less painful and could easily
be borne ; he had so much of the spirit of the Trapper in him
that he could not pass a trap in which a Marten was caught
without taking it out, although it added to the weight he
72 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
was hauling : In the evening he arrived at the first hut, put
every thing in order, lighted his fire, and sat down, and as he
told me, [was] more proud of the fortitude of the day, than of
any day of his life ; he slept well, his foot did not swell ; and
the next morning, with some pain [he] renewed his journey
to the second hut ; and thus to the fifth hut. During these
days he had the trapping path to walk on, which was soft
and steady ; he had now about sixty miles to go without a
path ; he had now to hang up the Martens and everything he
could do without, boil the bark of the Larch Tree which lies
close to the wood, beat it to a soft poultice and lay it on the
woimd ; his sled was now light and his hand regular in lifting
his foot and snow shoe ; in five days he arrived at the Factory
having suffered much each evening in getting firewood :
during all this time of travelling his foot was not in the least
swelled ; when at the Factory he thought he would be at
his ease, but this was not the case, his foot became swollen,
with considerable pain, and for a month he had to make use
of a crutch.
I have often tried to tame the Marten, but could never
trust him beyond his chain : to one which I kept some time,
I brought a small hawk slightly wounded, and placed it near
him, he seemed wiUing to get away ; and did not like it ;
two days after I winged a middle sized owl, and brought it
to him, he appeared afraid of it, and would willingly have
run away, but did not dare to cease watching it. Shortly
after I found a Hare in one of the snares just taken. I brought
it alive to near the Marten, he became much agitated, the
skin of his head distorted to a ferocious aspect, he chattered,
sprung to the Hare, as if with mortal hatred ; this appeared
to me strangely unaccountable, aU this state of excitement
against a weak animal it's common prey. Walking quickly
through the Forest to visit the snares and traps, I have
several times been amused with the Marten trying to steal
the Hare, suspended by a snare from a pole ; the Marten is
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 78
very active, but the soft snow does not allow him to spring
more than his own height above the surface ; the Hare is
suspended full five feet above the surface ; determined to
get the Hare, he finds the pole to which the Hare is hanging,
and running along the pole, when near the small end, his
weight over balances the other end, and the Marten is pre-
cipitated into the snow with the hare, before he recovers,
the pole has risen with the Hare out of his reach ; he would
stand on his hind feet, chatter at the hare with vexation ;
return to the Pole, to try to get the hare, to be again plunged
in the snow ; how long he would have continued, I do not
know, the cold did not allow me to remain long ; seeing me,
he ran away.
The Lynx^ may be regarded as a very large cat, readily
climbs trees, and preys on Mice, Hares, Squirrels and Birds,
it's habits are those of a Cat : it is a shy animal ; it's skin
is not much worth, the skin being thin and weak ; the Natives
take this animal in a trap, in which is a wisp of grass roUed
round some Castorum and the oil stones of the Beaver,^ against
this he rubs his head, displaces the stick which suspends the
trap, and he is caught ; by the same means he is caught in a
snare ; while rubbing his head he purrs like a cat. The flesh
is white and good, and makes a good roast.
His fine large lustrous eyes have been noticed by naturalists,
and other writers, they are certainly beautiful, but better
adapted to the twilight, than the glare of the sunshine. I
am inclined to think that the habits of the Fox are better
known in Europe than to us, for in populous countries it
requires all his wits and wiles to preserve his life. The
Wolverene,^ is an animal unknown to other parts of the world,
and we would willingly dispense with his being round here.
It is a strong, well made, powerful animal; his legs short,
^ Lynx canadensis Kerr. [E. A. P.]
* Castor canadensis Kuhl, [E. A. P.]
* Gulo luscus (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
74 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
armed with long sharp claws, he climbs trees with ease and
nothing is safe that he can get at ; by nature a plunderer,
and mischievous, he is the plague of the country.
A party of six men were sent to square timber for the
Factory, and as usual left their heavy axes where they were
working, when they went to the tent for the night. One
morning the six axes were not to be found, and as they knew
there was no person within many miles of them they were
utterly at a loss what to think or do. They were all from
the very north of Scotland, and staunch believers in ghosts,
fairies and such like folk, except one ; at length one of them
who thought himself wiser than the rest, addressed his un-
believing companion, " Now Jamie, you infidel, this comes of
your laughing at ghosts and fairies, I told you that they
would make us suffer for it, here now all our axes are gone
and if a ghost has not taken them, what has .'' " Jamie was
sadly puzzled what to say, for the axes were gone ; fortu-
nately the Indian lad who was tenting with them, to supply
them with grouse came to them ; they told him all their
axes were taken away, upon looking about he perceived the
footmarks of a Wolverene, and told them who the thief was,
which they could not believe until tracking the Wolverene,
he found one of the axes hid under the snow : in like manner
three more were found, the others were carried to some
distance and took two hours to find them, they were aU
hidden separately, and to secure their axes they had to
shoulder them every evening to their tent. During the
winter hunt, the feathers of the birds are the property of the
hunters ; and those of the white Grouse sell for six pence a
pound to the Officer's of the ship, we gave our share to Robert
Tennant, whom we called Old Scot. He had collected the
feathers of about 300 grouse in a canvas bag, and to take it
to the Factory, tied it on the Dog's sled, but some snow
having fallen in the night, the hauUng was heavy ; and after
going a short distance the bag of feathers had to be left,
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 75
which was suspended to the branch of a tree ; On our return
we were surprized to see feathers on the snow, on coming to
the tree on which we had hung the bag we found a wolverene
had cut it down, torn the bag to pieces, and scattered the
feathers so as hardly to leave two together. He was too
knowing for a trap but [was] killed by a set Gun. In trapping
of Martens, ranges of traps sometimes extend forty miles, or
more. An old trapper always begins with a Wolverene trap,
and at the end of every twenty traps makes one for the
Wolverene, this is a work of some labor, as the trap must be
strongly made and well loaded, for this strong animal, his
weight is about that of an engHsh Mastiff, but more firmly
made ; his skin is thick, the hair coarse, of a dark brown color,
value about ten shilHngs, but to encourage the natives to
kill it, [it] is valued at two beavers, being four times it's real
value.
Of the three species of Wolf,^ only one is found in this
stony region that I have described, and this species appears
pecuUar to this region ; it is the largest of them, and by way
of convenience is called the Wood, or Forest Wolf, as it is
not found elsewhere ; it's form and color [is] much the same
as the others, of a dark grey, the hair, though not coarse,
cannot be called soft and fine, it is in plenty, and with the
skin makes warm clothing. It is a solitary animal. Two are
seldom seen together except when in chase of some animal
of the Deer species. Fortunately they are not numerous,
they are very rarely caught in a trap, but redily take the
bait of a set Gun, and [are] killed. The cased skin of one of
these Wolves, came with ease over a man of six feet, two
inches in height dressed in his winter clothing, and was ten
inches above his head, yet powerful and active as he is, he
is not known to attack mankind, except in a rare case of some-
thing Hke canine madness, and his bite does not produce
hydrophobia. At least it never has been so among the
^ Cants occidentalis Richardson. [E. A. P.]
76 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Natives, and the dogs bitten by him, only suffer the pain of
the bite. Foxes have sometimes this canine madness or some-
thing like it, but hydrophobia is wholly unknown. Two of
these Wolves are a full match of either the Moose,^ or Rein
Deer,^ the only two species found in this region. When they
start one of these Deer, they are left far behind, but the
Deer must stop to feed, they then come up to, and again
start the Deer, and thus continue until the animal, harrassed
for want of food and rest becomes weak and turns to bay in
this state ready to defend itself with it's powerful feet. The
wolves cautiously approach, one going close in front to
threaten an attack, yet keeping out of the reach of it's fore
feet. The other wolf goes behind, keeping a Httle on one side
to be out of the direct stroke of the hind feet ; and watching,
gives a sharp bite to cut the back sinew of one of the hind
legs, this brings on a smart stroke of the hind legs of the
Deer, but the wolf is on one side, and repeats his bites until
the back sinew is cut, the Deer can now no longer defend
itself, the back sinew of the other hind leg is soon cut, the
Deer falls down and becomes the easy prey of the Wolves ;
the tongue and the bowels are the first to be devoured. From
the teeth of the old Wolves being sharp pointed, it does not
appear they knaw the bones, but only clean them of the
flesh, and in this state we find the bones. The Deer in
summer sometimes takes to the water, but this only prolongs
his life for a few hours. They are very destructive to the
young deer ; and their loud bowlings in the night make the
Deer start from their beds and run to a greater distance.
When wounded, he will defend himself, but tries to get away,
and dies as hard as he lived. There is something in the erect
form of man, while he shows no fear, that awes every animal.
The animals described in this Stony Region are few in pro-
portion to the extent of country, the Natives with all their
> A Ices americanus (Clinton). [E. A. P.]
* Rangifer sylvestris (Richardson). [E. A. P.]
MUSK RAT COUNTRY 77
address can only collect furrs sufficient to purchase the
necessaries of life ; and part of their clothing is of leather in
summer, very disagreeable in rainy weather, and the avidity
with which the furr bearing animals is sought, almost
threatens their extinction ; the birds of passage may be as
numerous as ever, comparatively only a very few can be
killed as they pass, and the Natives acknowledge, that with all
their endeavours they can barely subsist by the chase, even
when making use of all the animals they catch for food.
CHAPTER IV
NAHATHAWAY INDIANS
Nahathaway Language — A-ppearance — Dress — Manners —
Traditions — Immortality of the Soul — Keeche Keeche
Manito — Manitos — Ghosts — Pah kok — Sun and Moon —
Names of Moons of each month — Earth — Forest — Manitos —
Metchee Manito — Dog Feasts — Weesarkejauk — The story
of the Deluge — Rainbow — The conjurer Ise-pesawan dances
— Poowaggan — Resentful dispositions — Early Marriages —
Duties of Wife — Duties of Husband — Superstitions of hunter
— Marriages — Polygamy — Children — Metis — Ingenuity of
Indians — Wishes — Sleds — Dogs — Moving of Indians —
Arrangement of Tents.
HAVING passed six years ^ in different parts of this
Region, exploring and surveying it, I may be
allowed to know something of the natives, as well
as the productions of the country. It's inhabitants are two
distinct races of Indians ; North of the latitude of fifty six
degrees, the country is occupied by a people who call them-
selves " Dinnie," by the Hudson Bay Traders " Northern
Indians " and by their southern neighbours " Cheepawyans "
whom I shall notice hereafter. Southward of the above
latitude the country is in the possession of the Nahathaway
* The six years so spent were as follows, the first four being with the
Hudson's Bay Company, and the last two with the North-West Company :
1792-93, at Sipiwesk lake; 1794-95, at Reed lake; 1795-96, at Duck
Portage; 1 796-97, at Reindeer lake ; 1804-05, at Musquawegan ; 1805-06,
at Reed lake.
78
NAHATHAWAY INDIANS 79
Indians ^ their native name (Note. These people by the French
Canadians, who are all without the least education, in their
jargon call them " Krees " a name which none of the Indians
can pronounce ; this name appears to be taken from
" Keethisteno " so called by one of their tribes and which
the french pronounce " Kristeno," and by contraction Krees
(R, rough, cannot be pronounced by any Native) these
people are separated into many tribes or extended families,
under different names, but all speaking dialects of the same
language, which extends over this stony region, and along
the Atlantic coasts southward to the Delaware River in the
United States, (the language of the Delaware Indians being
a dialect of the parent Nahathaway) and by the Saskatchewan
River westward, to the Rocky Mountains. The Nathaway,
as it is spoken by the southern tribes is softened and made
more sonorous, the frequent th of the parent tongue is changed
to the letter y as Neether (me) into Neeyer, Keether (thou)
into Keeyer, Weether (him) into Weeyer, and as it proceeds
southward [it] becomes almost a different language. It is
easy of pronunciation, and is readily acquired by the white
people for the purposes of trade, and common conversation.
The appearance of these people depends much on the
climate and ease of subsistence. Around Hudson's Bay and
near the sea coasts, where the climate is very severe, and
^ Nahathaway is one of several variants of the name applied by the
Cree Indians to themselves, and is that form of the name which is commonly
used by the Cree who live in the country around Isle k la Crosse and the
upper waters of the Churchill river. Among the Cree of the Saskatchewan
river and the Great Plains the th sound is eliminated and the word is pro-
nounced Nihlaway. Kristeno, the name by which this great tribe was
usually known to the early traders, and of which the word Cree is a cor-
ruption, was the name which the Chippewa applied to them, and as the
white people came in contact with, and learned to speak the language of,
the Chippewa first, they naturally adopted the Chippewa name. The
Cree are one of the most important tribes of the Algonquin family.
They are naturally inhabitants of the forest. Their range was from the
Rocky Mountains eastward north of the Great Plains, and thence north
of Lake Winnipeg to the southern shore of Hudson Bay.
80 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
game scarce, they are seldom above the middle size, of spare
make, the features round, or slightly oval, hair black, strong
and lank ; eyes black and of full size, cheek bones rather
high, mouth and teeth good, the chin round ; the counte-
nance grave yet with a tendency to cheerful, the mild
countenances of the women make many, while young, appear
lovely ; but like the labouring classes the softness of youth
soon passes away. In the interior where the cHmate is not
so severe, and hunting more successful, the Men attain to
the stature of six feet ; well proportioned, the face more
oval, and the features good, giving them a manly appearance ;
the complexion is of a light olive, and their colour much the
same as a native of the south of Spain ; the skin soft and
smooth. They bear cold and exposure to the weather better
than we do and the natural heat of their bodies is greater
than ours, probably from Hving wholly on animal food. They
can bear great fatigue but not hard labor, they would rather
walk six hours over rough ground than work one hour with
the pick axe and spade, and the labor they perform, is mostly
in an erect posture as working with the ice chissel piercing
holes through the ice or through a beaver house, and naturally
they are not industrious ; they do not work from choice,
but necessity ; yet the industrious of both sexes are praised
and admired ; the civiHzed man has many things to tempt
him to an active Ufe, the Indian has none, and is happy sitting
still, and smoking his pipe.
The dress of the Men is simply of one or two loose coats
of coarse broad cloth, or molton, a piece of the same sewed
to form a rude kind of stockings to half way up the thigh, a
blanket by way of a cloak ; the shoes are of weU dressed
Moose, or Rein Deer skin, and from it's pliancy enables them
to run with safety, they have no covering for the head in
summer, except the skin of the spotted northern Diver ; but
in winter, they wrap a piece of Otter, or Beaver skin with the
furr on, round their heads, still leaving the crown of the
NAHATHAWAY INDIANS 81
head bare, from which they suffer no inconvenience. The
dress of the women is of !•$■ yards of broad cloth sewed Hke
a sack, open at both ends, one end is tied over the shoulders,
the middle belted round the waist, the lower part like a petti-
coat, covers to the ankles, and gives them a decent appearance.
The sleeves covers the arms and shoulders, and are separate
from the body dress. The rest is much the same as the men.
For a head dress they have a foot of broad cloth sewed at one
end, ornamented with beads and gartering, this end is on the
head, the loose parts are over the shoulders, and is well adapted
to defend the head and neck from the cold and snow. The
women seldom disfigure their faces with paint, and are not
over fond of ornaments. Most of the men are tattoed, on
some part of their bodies, arms &c. Some of the Women
have a small circle on each cheek.
The natives in their manners are mild and decent, treat
each other with kindness and respect, and very rarely interrupt
each other in conversation ; after a long separation the
nearest relations meet each other with the same seeming
indifference, as if they had constantly lived in the same tent,
but they have not the less affection for each other, for they
hold aU show of joy, or sorrow to be unmanly ; on the death
of a relation, or friend, the women accompany their tears for
the dead with piercing shrieks, but the men sorrow in silence,
and when the sad pang of recollection becomes too strong to
be borne, retire into the forest to give free vent to their grief.
Those acts that pass between man and man for generous
charity and kind compassion in civilized society, are no more
than what is every day practised by these Savages ; as acts
of common duty ; is any one unsuccessful in the chase, has
he lost his Httle all by some accident, he is sure to be relieved
by the others to the utmost of their power, in sickness they
carefully attend each other to the latest breath decently . . .
the dead . . }
^ The bottom of the page of manuscript has here been torn off.
F
82 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Of all the several distinct Tribes of Natives on the east
side of the mountains, the Nahathaway Indians appear to
deserve the most consideration ; under different names the
great families of this race occupy a great extent of country,
and however separated and unknown to each other, they have
the same opinions on rehgion, on morals, and their customs
and manners differ very Httle. They are the only Natives
that have some remains of ancient times from tradition. In
the following account I have carefully avoided as their national
opinions all they have learned from white men, and my
knowledge was collected from old men, whom with my own
age extend backwards to upwards of one hundred years ago,
and I must remark, that what [ever] other people may write
as the creed of these natives, I have always found it very
difficult to learn their real opinion on what may be termed
religious subjects. Asking them questions on this head, is to
no purpose, they will give the answer best adapted to avoid
other questions, and please the enquirer. My knowledge has
been gained when living and travelling with them and in
times of distress and danger in their prayers to invisible
powers, and their view of a future state of themselves and
others, and hke most of mankind, those in youth and in the
prime of hfe think only of the present but decHning man-
hood, and escapes from danger turn their thoughts on futurity.
After a weary day's march we sat by a log fire, the bright
Moon, with thousands of sparkhng stars passing before us, we
could not help enquiring who lived in those bright mansions ;
for I frequently conversed with them as one of themselves ;
the brilliancy of the planets always attracted their attention,
and when their nature was explained to them, they concluded
them to be the abodes of the spirits of those who had led a
good life.
A Missionary has never been among them, and my know-
ledge of their language has not enabled me to do more than
teach the unity of God, and a future state of rewards and
NAHATHAWAY INDIANS 83
punishments ; hell fire they do not believe, for they do not
think it possible that any thing can resist the continued
action of fire : It is doubtful if their language in its present
simple state can clearly express the doctrines of Christianity
in their full force. They believe in the self existence of the
Keeche Keeche Manito (The Great, Great Spirit) they
appear to derive their belief from tradition, and [believe] that
the visible world, with all it's inhabitants must have been
made by some powerful being : but have not the same idea
of his constant omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence
that we have, but [think] that he is so when he pleases, he is
the master of h'fe, and all things are at his disposal ; he is
always kind to the human race, and hates to see the blood
of mankind on the ground, and sends heavy rain to wash it
away. He leaves the human race to their own conduct, but
has placed all other living creatures under the care of Manitos
(or inferior Angels) all of whom are responsible to Him ; but
all this beHef is obscure and confused, especially on the
Manitos, the guardians and guides of every genus of Birds
and Beasts ; each Manito has a separate command and care,
as one has the Bison, another the Deer ; and thus the whole
animal creation is divided amongst them. On this account
the Indians, as much as possible, neither say, nor do anything
to offend them, and the rehgious hunter, at the death of
each animal, says, or does, something, as thanks to the Manito
of the species for being permitted to kill it. At the death
of a Moose Deer, the hunter in a low voice, cries " wut, wut,
wut " ; cuts a narrow stripe of skin from off the throat, and
hangs it up to the Manito. The bones of the head of a Bear
are thrown into the water, and thus of other animals ; if
this acknowledgment was not made the Manito would drive
away the animals from the hunter, although the Indians
often doubt their power or existence yet like other invisible
beings they are more feared than loved. They believe in
ghosts but as very rarely seen, and those only of wicked men,
84 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
or women ; when this belief takes place, their opinion is, that
the spirit of the wicked person being in a miserable state
comes back to the body and round where he used to hunt ;
to get rid of such a hateful visitor, they burn the body to
ashes and the ghost then no longer haunts them. The dark
Pine Forests have spirits, but there is only one of them which
they dread, it is the Pah kok, a tall hateful spirit, he frequents
the depths of the Forest ; his howHngs are heard in the
storm, he delights to add to its terrors, it is a misfortune to
hear him, something ill wiU happen to the person, but when
he approaches a Tent and howls, he announces the death of
one of the inmates ; of all beings he is the most hateful and
the most dreaded. The Sun and Moon are accounted
Divinities and though they do not worship them, [they]
always speak of them with great reverence. They appear to
think [of] the Stars only as a great number of luminous points
perhaps also divinities, and mention them with respect ; they
have names for the brightest stars, as Serius, Orion and
others, and by them learn the change of the seasons, as the
rising of Orion for winter, and the setting of the Pleiades for
summer. The Earth is also a divinity, and is aHve, but
[they] cannot define what kind of life it is, but say, if it was
not aHve it could not give and continue life to other things
and to animated creatures.
The Forests, the ledges and hills of Rock, the Lakes and
Rivers have all something of the Manito about them, especi-
ally the Falls in the Rivers, and those to which the fish come
to spawn. The Indians when the season is over, frequently
place their spears at the Manito stone at the Fall, as an
offering to the Spirit of the Fall, for the fish they have caught.
These stones are rare, and sought after by the natives to
place at the edge of a water fall ; they are of the shape of a
Cobler's lap stone, but much larger, and pohshed by the wash
of the water. The " Metchee Manito," or Evil Spirit, they
believe to be evil, delighting in making men miserable, and
NAHATHAWAY INDIANS 83
bringing misfortune and sickness on them, and if he had the
power would wholly destroy them ; he is not the tempter,
his whole power is for mischief to, and harrassing of, them, to
avert all which they use many ceremonies, and other sacri-
fices, which consists of such things as they can spare, and
sometimes a dog is painted and killed ; whatever is given to
him is laid on the ground, frequently at the foot of a pine
tree. They believe in the immortaHty of the soul, and that
death is only a change of existence which takes place directly
after death. The good find themselves in a happy country,
where they rejoin their friends and relations, the Sun is always
bright, and the animals plenty ; and most of them carry this
beHef so far, that they beheve whatever creatures the great
Spirit has made must continue to exist somewhere, and under
some form ; But this fine belief is dark and uncertain ; when
danger was certain, and it was doubtful if we saw the day,
or if we saw it, whether we should live through it, and a future
state appeared close to them, their minds wavered, they
wished to beheve what they felt to be uncertain, all that I
could do was to show the immortality of the soul, as necessary
to the reward of the good and punishment of the wicked but
all this was the talk of man with man. It wanted the sure
and sacred promise of the Heavenly Redeemer of mankind,
who brought life and immortality to light.
There is an important being, with whom the Natives
appear better acquainted with than the other, whom they
call " Weesarkejauk " (the Flatterer) he is the hero of all
their stories always promising them* some good, or inciting
them to some pleasure, and always deceiving them. They
have some tradition of the Deluge, as may be seen from the
following account related by the old men. After the Great
Spirit made mankind, and all the animals, he told Weesarke-
jauk to take care of them and teach them how to Hve, and not
to eat of bad roots ; that would hurt and kill them ; but he
did not mind the Great Spirit ; became careless and incited
86 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
them to pleasure, mankind and the animals all did as they
pleased, quarelled and shed much blood, with which the
Great Spirit was displeased ; he threatened Weesarkejauk
that if he did not keep the ground clean he would take every-
thing from him and make him miserable but he did not
believe the Great Spirit and in a short time became more
careless ; and the quarrels of Men, and the animals made
the ground red with blood, and so far from taking care of
them he incited them to do and Hve badly ; this made the
Great Spirit very angry and he told Weesarkejauk that he
would take every thing from him, and wash the ground
clean ; but still he did not believe ; until the Rivers and
Lakes rose very high and over flowed the ground for it was
always raining ; and the Keeche Gahme (the Sea) came on
the land, and every man and animal were drowned, except
one Otter, one Beaver and one Musk Rat. Weesarkejauk
tried to stop the sea, but it was too strong for him, and he
sat on the water crying for his loss, the Otter, the Beaver
and the Musk Rat rested their heads on one of his thighs.
^\^len the rain ceased and the sea went away, he took
courage, but did not dare to speak to the Great Spirit. After
musing a long time upon his sad condition he thought if he
could get a bit of the old ground he could make a httle island
of it, for he has the power of extending, but not creating any-
thing ; and as he had not the power of diving under the
water, and did not know the depth to the old ground he was
at a loss what to do. Some say the Great Spirit took pity
on him, and gave him the power to renovate everything,
provided he made use of the old materials, all of which lay
buried under the water to an unknown depth. In this sad
state, as he sat floating on the water he told the three animals
that they must starve unless he could get a bit of the old
ground from under the water of which he would make a fine
Island for them, then addressing himself to the Otter, and
praising him for his courage, strength and activity and pro-
NAHATHAWAY INDIANS 87
mising him plenty of fish to eat, he persuaded the Otter to
dive, and bring up a bit of earth ; the Otter came up without
having reached the ground : hy praises, he got the Otter to
make two more attempts, but without success, and [he] was so
much exhausted he could do no more. Weesarkejauk called
him a coward of a weak heart, and [said] that the Beaver
would put him to shame : then, speaking to the Beaver, praised
his strength and wisdom and promised to make him a good
house for winter, and telling him to dive straight down, the
Beaver made two attempts without success, and came up so
tired that Weesarkejauk had to let him repose a long time,
then promising him a wife if he brought up a bit of earth,
told him to try a third time ; to obtain a wife, he boldly
went down and staid so long, that he came up almost lifeless.
Weesarkejauk was now very sad, for what the active Otter
and strong Beaver could not do, he had little hopes the Musk
Rat could do ; but this was his only resource : He now praised
the musk rat and promised him plenty of roots to eat, with
rushes and earth to make himself a house ; the Otter and the
Beaver he said were fools, and lost themselves, and he would
find the ground, if he went straight down. Thus encouraged
he dived, and came up, but brought nothing ; after reposing,
he went down a second time, and staid a long time, on coming
up Weesarkejauk examined his fore paws and found they had
the smell of earth, and showing this to the Musk Rat, promised
to make him a Wife, who should give him a great many
children, and become more numerous than any other animal,
and teUing him to have a strong heart ; and go direct down,
the Musk Rat went down the third time and staid so long
that Weesarkejauk feared he was drowned. At length seeing
some bubbles come up, he put down his long arm and brought
up the Musk Rat, almost dead, but to his great joy with a
piece of earth between his fore paws and his breast, this he
seized, and in a short time extended it to a Httle island, on
which they all reposed. Some say Weesarkejauk procured a
88 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
bit of wood, from which he made the Trees, and from bones,
he made the animals ; but the greater number deny this,
and say, the Great Spirit made the rivers take the water to
the Keeche gahma of bad water (the salt sea) and then
renovated Mankind, the Animals, and the Trees ; in proof
of which, the Great Spirit deprived him of all authority over
Mankind and the animals, and he has since had only the
power to flatter and deceive. It has been aheady noticed
that this visionary being is the hero of many stories, which
the women relate to amuse away the evenings. They are all
founded upon the tricks he plays upon, and the mischief he
leads the animals into, by flattering and deceiving them,
especially the Wolf and the Fox. But the recital of the best
of these stories would be tameness itself to the splendid
Language and gorgeous scenery of the tales of the oriental
nations.
The Nahathaway Indians have also another tradition
relative to the Deluge to which no fable is attached. In the
latter end of May 1806, at the Rocky Mountain House,^
(where I passed the summer) the Rain continued the very
unusual space of full three weeks, the Brooks and the River
became swollen, and could not be forded, each stream became
a torrent, and [there was] much water on the ground : A
band of these Indians were at the house, waiting [for] the
Rain to cease and the streams to lower, before they could
proceed to hunting ; all was anxiety, they smoked and made
speaches to the Great Spirit for the Rain to cease, and at
length became alarmed at the quantity of water on the
* The Rocky Mountain House here referred to was situated on the
north bank of the North Saskatchewan river, in latitude 52° 21' 30" N.,
longitude 114° 57' W., a mile and a quarter above the mouth of Clear-
water river, on a beautiful level prairie in a wide bend of the river. It
was built by the North-Westers in the autumn of 1799 ; and it was
Thompson's home during the winters of 1800-01, 1801-02, 1806-07. The
trading post which the Hudson's Bay Company afterwards built near it
was called Acton House.
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NAHATHAWAY INDIANS 89
ground ; at length the rain ceased, I was standing at the
door watching the breaking up of the clouds, when of a sudden
the Indians gave a loud shout, and called out " Oh, there is
the mark of life, we shall yet Hve." On looking to the east-
ward there was one of the widest and most splendid Rainbows
I ever beheld ; and joy was now in every face. The name
of the Rainbow is Peeshim Cappeah (Sun Hnes). I had now
been twenty two years among them, and never before heard
the name of the Mark of Life given to the rainbow (Peemah
tisoo nan oo Chegun) nor have I ever heard it since ; upon
enquiring of the old Men why they kept this name secret
from me, they gave me the usual reply, You white men always
laugh and treat with contempt what we have heard and
learned from our fathers, and why should we expose our-
selves to be laughed at ; I replied I have never done so, our
books also call the Rainbow the mark of life ; what the white
sometimes despise you for, is your one day, making prayers
to the Good Spirit for all you want ; and another shutting
yourselves up, making speeches with ceremonies and offer-
ings to the Evil Spirit ; it is for the worship of the Evil Spirit
that we despise you, you fear him because he is wicked, and
the more you worship him, the more power he will have over
you ; worship the Good Spirit only and the bad spirit will
have no power over you. Ah, said they ; he is strong, we
fear for ourselves, our wives and our children. Christianity
alone can eradicate these sad superstitions, and who will
teach them. Where the Natives are in villages, or even
where they occasionally assemble together for two, or three
months ; a Missionary may do some good, but the Natives
who in a hard country live by hunting, scattered by three, or
four famihes over a wide extent of forest, are beyond the labors
of a Missionary ; yet the influence of the white people have
done much to lessen the worship and offerings to the Evil
Spirit. From the french Canadians they cannot add to their
moraHty, and the dreadful oaths and curses they make use of.
90 DAV^D THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
shocks an Indian. The Indian, altho' naturally grave is fond
of cheerful amusements, and listening to stories, especially of
a wonderful cast ; and [is] fond of news, which he listens to
with attention, and his common discourse is easy and cheerful.
Like the rest of mankind, he is anxious to know something
of futurity, and [where] he shall take up his wintering ground.
For to acquire this important knowledge, they have re-
course to Dreams and other superstitions ; and a few of their
best conjurers sometimes take a bold method of imposing
upon themselves and others. One of my best acquaintances,
named " Isepesawan," was the most relied on by the Natives,
to inquire into futurity by conjuring ; he was a good hunter,
fluent in speech, had a fine manly voice ; and very early
every morning took his rattle, and beating time with it, made
a fluent speech of about twenty minutes to the Great Spirit
and the Spirits of the forests, for health to all of them and
success in hunting, and to give to his Poowoggin where to
find the Deer, and to be always kind to them, and to give
them straight Dreams, that they may Hve straight. The
time chosen was a fine afternoon, in the open season ;
" Isepesawan " was the actor. After taking the sweating
bath ; he had four long slender poles brought of about sixteen
feet in length ; these were fixed in the ground to form a
square of full three feet : At five feet above the ground four
cross pieces were tied firmly ; and about fuU three feet above
these, other four pieces were strongly tied across the upright
poles ; all this, at the bottom and top, with the sides were
closely covered with the dressed leather skins of Deer ; leaving
one side loose for a door. This being done, fine sinew Hne
was brought ; with this, the thumb was tied to the fore finger
in two places, the fingers to each other in the same manner ;
both hands being then tied they were brought together palm
to palm and tied together at the wrist ; then the arms tied
close above the elbows. The Legs were tied together close
above the ancles, and above the knees ; sometimes the toes
NAHATHAWAY INDIANS 91
are tied together in the same manner as the hands ; a few
yards of leather Hne is tied round his body and arms ; a strong
line is passed under the knees, and round the back of the neck,
which draws the knees to a sitting posture. A large Moose
leather skin, or a Bison Robe, is wrapped around him, and
several yards of leather line bind the Robe or leather skin
close around him ; in this helpless state two men Hft and
place him in the conjuring box in a sitting posture, with his
rattle on his right side All is now suspense, the Men,
Women, and Children keep strict silence ; In about fifteen
or twenty minutes ; the whole of the cords, wrapped to-
gether are thrown out, and instantly the Rattle and the Song
are heard, the conjuring box violently shaken, as if the con-
jurer was actually possessed ; sometimes the Song ceases, and
a speech is heard of ambiguous predictions of what is to
happen. In half an hours time, he appears exhausted, leaves
the leather box and retires to his tent, the perspiration
running down him, smokes his pipe, and goes to sleep.
The above is acted on a piece of clear ground ; I some-
times thought there must be some collusion, and the apparent
fast knots, were really slip knots ; but the more I became
convinced the whole was a neat piece of jugglery. On one
of these occasions, five Scotchmen were with me on some
business we had with the Natives ; we found the above Indian
preparing his conjuring box : of course our business could
not be done till this was over. When my men perceived the
conjurer about being tied, they said, if they had the tying of
him, he would never get loose, this I told to the Indians,
who readily agreed the Scotchmen should tie him : which
they did in the usual way, and placed him in the conjuring
box ; quite sure he could not get loose : In about fifteen
minutes, to their utter astonishment, all the cords were
thrown out in a bundle, the Rattle, and the Song [was heard]
in full force, and the conjuring box shaken, as if going to
pieces ; my men were at a loss what to think, or say. the
—
92 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Natives smiled at their incredulity ; at length they consoled
themselves by saying, the Devil himself had untied him, and
set him loose.
I found many of the Men, especially those who had been
much in company with white men, to be all half infidels,
but the Women kept them in order ; for they fear the
Manito's ; All their dances have a religious tendency, they
are not, as with us, dances of mere pleasure, of the joyous
countenance : they are grave, each dancer considers it is a
religious rite for some purpose ; their motions are slow and
graceful ; yet I have sometimes seen occasional dances of a
gay character ; I was at their Tents on business, when the
Women came and told me they wanted Beads and Ribbons,
to which I replied I wanted Marten Skins ; early the next
morning, five young women set off to make Marten Traps ;
and did not return until the evening. They were rallyed by
their husbands and brothers ; who proposed they should
dance to the Manito of the Martens, to this they wiUingly
consented, it was a fine, calm, moonhght night, the young
men came with the Rattle and Tambour, about nine women
formed the dance, to which they sung with their fine voices,
and lively they danced hand in hand in a half circle for a
long hour ; it is now many years ago, yet I remember this
gay hour.
Every man believes or wishes to believe that he has a
familiar being who takes care of him, and warns him of danger,
and other matters which otherwise he could not know ; this
imaginary being he calls his Poowoggan ; upon conversing
with them on the Being on whom they relied ; it appeared
to me to be no other than the powers of his own mind when
somewhat excited by danger or difficulty, especially as they
suppose their dreams to be caused by him, " Ne poo war tin "
(I have dreamed) ; too often a troubled dream from a heavy
supper ; but at times they know how to dream for their own
interest or convenience ; and when one of them told me he
NAHATHAWAY INDIANS 93
had been dreaming it was for what he wished to have, or to
do, for some favor, or as some excuse for not performing his
promises, for so far as their interests are concerned they do
not want poHcy.
When injured they are resentful, but not more than the
lower classes of europeans. They frequently pass over injuries,
and are always appeased with a present, unless blood has been
shed, in this case however they may seem to forgive, they
defer revenge to a more convenient opportunity ; courage is
not accounted an essential to the men, any more than chastity
to the women, though both are sometimes found in a high
degree. The greatest praise that one Indian can give to
another, is, that he is a man of steady humane disposition,
and a fortunate hunter, and the praise of the women is to be
active and good humoured ; their marriages are without
noise or ceremony. Nothing is requisite but the consent of
the parties, and Parents : the riches of a man consists solely
in his ability as a Hunter, and the portion of the woman is
good health, and a wiUingness to reheve her husband from
all domestic duties. Although the young men appear not to
be passionate lovers, they seldom fail of being good husbands,
and when contrariety of disposition prevails, so that they
cannot Hve peaceably together, they separate with as little
ceremony as they came together, and both parties are free to
attach themselves to whom they will, without any stain on
their characters ; but if they have Hved so long together so
as to have children, one, or both, are severely blamed. Poly-
gamy is allowed, and each may have as many wives as he can
maintain, but few indulge themselves in this liberty, yet
some have even three ; this is seldom a matter of choice, it is
frequently from the death of a friend who has left his wife,
sister, or daughter to him, for every woman must have a
husband. The children are brought up with great care and
tenderness. They are very seldom corrected, the constant
company and admonition of the old people is their only
94 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
education, whom they soon learn to imitate in gravity as far
as youth will permit ; they very early and readily betake
themselves to fishing and hunting, from both men and women
impressing on their minds, that the man truly miserable is
he, who is dependent on another for his subsistence. They
have no genius for mechanics, their domestic utensils are all
rude, their snow shoes and canoes show ingenuity which
necessity has forced on them, the state of every thing with
them rises no higher than absolute necessity, and in all pro-
bability their ancestors some hundred years ago, were equal
to the present generation in the arts of life.
CHAPTER V
DEER
Hunting — Moose — Rein Deer — Hedges for trapping Rein Deer
— Vast herds of Rein Deer — Mahthee Mooswah.
THE Natives of this Stoney Region subsist wholly by
the chase and by fishing, the country produces no
vegetables but berries on which they can live. The
term " hunting " they apply only to the Moose and Rein
Deer, and the Bear ; they look for, and find the Beaver, they
kill with the Gun, and by traps the Otter and other animals.
Hunting is divided into what may be termed " tracking "
and " tracing." Tracking an animal is by following it's foot-
steps, as the Rein Deer and the Bear and other beasts ;
tracing, is following the marks of feeding, rubbing itself on
the ground, and against trees, and lying down : which is for
the Moose Deer, and for other animals on rocks and hard
grounds. My remarks are from the Natives who are inti-
mately acquainted with them, and make them their peculiar
study. The first in order is the Moose Deer,^ the pride of
the forest, and the largest of all the Deer, [it] is too well
known to need a description. It is not numerous in proportion
to the extent of country, but may even be said to be scarce.
It is of a most watchful nature ; it's long, large, capacious
ears enables it to catch and discriminate, every sound ; his
sagacity for self preservation is almost incredible ; it feeds in
wide circles, one within the other, and then lies down to
ruminate near the centre ; so that in tracking of it, the
^ Alces americanus (Clinton). [E. A. P.]
95
96 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
unwary, or unskillful, hunter is sure to come to windward of,
and start it ; when, in about two hours, by his long trot,
he is at the distance of thirty or forty miles, from where it
started ; when chased it can trot, (it's favorite pace) about
twenty five to thirty miles an hour ; and when forced to a
gallop, rather loses, than gains ground. In calm weather it
feeds among the Pines, Aspins and WiUows ; the buds, and
tender branches of the two latter are it's food : but in a gale
of wind he retires among the close growth of Aspins, Alders
and Willows on low ground still observing the same circular
manner of feeding and lying down. If not molested it travels
no farther than to find it's food, and is strongly attached to
it's first haunts, and after being harrassed it frequently re-
turns to it's usual feeding places. The flesh of a Moose in
good condition, contains more nourishment than that of any
other Deer ; five pounds of this meat being held to be equal
in nourishment to seven pounds of any other meat even of
the Bison, but for this, it must be killed where it is quietly
feeding ; when run by Men, Dogs, or Wolves for any dis-
tance, it's fiesh is alltogether changed, becomes weak and
watery and when boiled ; the juices separates from the meat
like small globules of blood, and does not make broth ; the
change is so great, one can hardly be persuaded it is the meat
of a Moose Deer. The nose of the Moose, which is very large
and soft, is accounted a great delicacy. It is very rich meat.
The bones of it's legs are very hard and several things are made
of them. His skin makes the best of leather. It is the noblest
animal of the Forest, and the richest prize the Hunter can
take. In the rutting season the Bucks become very fierce,
and in their encounters sometimes interlock their large pal-
mated horns so strongly that they cannot extricate them,
and both die on the spot, and [this is a thing] which happens
too often : three of us tried to unlock the horns of two Moose
which had died in this manner, but could not do it, although
they had been a year in this state, and we had to use the axe.
DEER 97
In the latter end of September [1804] we had to build a trading
house at Musquawegun Lake/ an Indian named Huggemowe-
quan came to hunt for us, and on looking about thought the
ground good for Moose, and told us to make no noise ; he was
told no noise would be made except the falling of the trees,
this he said the Moose did not mind ; when he returned, he
told us he had seen the place a Doe Moose had been feeding
in the beginning of May ; in two days more he had unravelled
her feeding places to the beginning of September. One
evening he remarked to us, that he had been so near to her
that he could proceed no nearer, unless it blew a gale of wind,
when this took place he set off early, and shot the Moose
Deer. This took place in the very early part of October.
This piece of hunting the Indians regarded as the work of
a matchless hunter beyond all praise. The Natives are very
dextrous in cutting up, and separating the joints, of a Deer,
which in the open season has to be carried by them to the
tent, or if near the water, to a canoe ; this is heavy work ;
but if the distance is too great, the meat is split and dried
by smoke, in which no resinous wood must be used ; this
reduces the meat to less than one third of its weight. In
winter this is not required, as the flat sleds are brought to
the Deer, and the meat with all that is useful is hauled on
the Snow to the tent. The Moose Deer, have rarely more
than one Fawn at a birth, it's numbers are decreasing for,
from it's settled habits a skillful hunter is sure to find, and
wound, or kill this Deer, and it is much sought for, for food,
for clothing and for Tents. The bones of the head of a Moose
must be put into the water or covered with earth or snow.
I have already described the Stony Region as extending
from the most northern part of this continent, bounded, on
the east by the sea, southward to Labrador and Nova Scotia,
on the west by the chain of great Lakes : this great extent
1 Musquawegan (which means Bear's Backbone) was situated on the
Churchill river. Thompson spent here the winter of 1804-05.
G
98 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
may properly be called the country of the Rein Deer, an
animal too well known to need description ; and this Region
is peculiar to the Rein Deer, on this continent it is found no
where else. The Natives have well named it " Marthee
Teek " the " ugly deer," and from its migratory habits, the
Wandering Deer.^ It's form and way of Hfe, though admir-
ably adapted to the rude countries and severe cHmates it
inhabits, yet when compared with the graceful Antelope, it
may be called not handsome. Their sight appears not good,
and the eye dull, and has nothing of the brilliancy of the
eyes of other deer. When examining anything that appears
doubtful, it extends it's neck and head in an awkward manner,
and cautiously approaches until it is sure what the object is.
It's large, broad, hard, hoofs make it very sure footed, and
quite safe, and swift on swamps, rocks, or smooth ice. It's
meat is good, but has something of a peculiar taste ; the fat
* The Reindeer here referred to belong to a form of caribou provision-
ally described by Richardson under the name Cervus tarandus var. B.
sylvesiris. These caribou spend the winter chiefly in the region now under
consideration and migrate in spring eastward to the shore of Hudson Bay,
about 150 miles south-east of York Factory, and return in autumn. In
former years these animals were very numerous, but they have been sub-
jected to such slaughter during their semi-annual migrations that their
numbers are now much reduced, though they are still sometimes found in
good-sized herds. Richardson's name has been revived recently on the
basis of specimens examined from Upper Nelson river, and east of Lake
Winnipeg (see Hollister, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 56, no. 5, p. 4,
1 91 2). These specimens are of the Woodland Caribou type, and when
compared with specimens from eastern Canada show differences of sub-
specific rank. Their identity with the animals referred to by Richardson
is still open to some question, as specimens actually from the Hayes river
herds were not available for comparison. The inhabitants of the region
consider the animals which cross Hayes river to be identical with the
Barren Ground Caribou, Rangifer arcticus (Richardson). Mr. J. B. Tyrrell
informs me that they are similar to the latter species in size, and not
noticeably different in any way when observed at a little distance, but
that they are certainly different from the larger Woodland Caribou of
the same general region. It is important therefore that a series of speci-
mens be secured which will permit comparison of this form both with the
Barren Ground species and with the larger Woodland Caribou. [E. A. P.]
DEER 99
is somewhat like that of mutton ; the Tongue in richness
and delicacy far exceeds any other deer, and is even superior
to the tongue of the Bison. It's strong form and broad hoofs
enables it to swim with ease and swiftness ; they boldly cross
the largest Rivers and even Bays and Straits of the sea ; but
in doing this, their want of clear eye sight leads them too far
from land, and [they] are lost. When few in number, and
scattered, they are cautious and timid ; but when in large
herds, quite the reverse and are ready to trample down all
before them.
At York Factory, in the early part of the open season,
the Rein Deer are sometimes numerous ; when they are so,
commencing about four miles above the Factory, strong
hedges of small pine trees, clear of their branches, are made,
near to, and running parallel with, the bank of the River ;
at intervals of about fifteen yards door ways are made in which
is placed a snare of strong Hne, in which, the Deer in attempt-
ing to pass, entangles itself ; when thus caught, it is sometimes
strangled, but more frequently found alive ; and ready to
defend itself ; the men, who every morning visit the hedge,
are each armed with a spear of ten to twelve feet ; and must
take care that the deer is at the length of his line and care-
fully avoid the stroke of his fore feet, with which he is very
active, and defends itself. The meat at this season is
always poor and what is salted is barely eatable ; it is only
in Autumn and the early part of winter that they are in good
condition.
In the latter end of the month of May 1792, the ice had
broken up. M" Cooke ^ and myself in a canoe proceeded
about twenty miles up the River to shoot the Rein Deer, as
^ William Cook was a native of London, England, and was engaged
in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company for a number of years at the
end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century. In
1 799-1 800 he was rated as a trader with a salary of £to a year, and in
1801-02 his salary was ;^8o a year. He was engaged chiefly at York Factory
and up the Nelson river.
100 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
they crossed the River ; we passed two days, in which time
we had killed ten deer. On the third morning the weather
cold and uncomfortable, we were sitting by our fire, when we
heard a noise as of distant thunder, and somewhat alarmed,
put our four guns, and blankets into the canoe, and sat
quietly in it ; waiting what it could be ; with surprise we
heard the sound increasing and rushing towards us, but we
were not long in suspense. About forty yards below us, a
vast herd of Rein Deer, of about one hundred yards of front,
rushing through the woods, headlong descended the steep
bank and swam across the river ; in the same manner ascended
the opposite bank, and continued fuU speed through the
woods ; we waited to see this vast herd pass, expecting to
see it followed by a number of wolves ; but not one appeared,
and in this manner the herd continued to pass the whole
day to near sunset, when a cessation took place. On each
hand were small herds of ten to twenty deer, all rushing
forward with the same speed. The great herd were so
closely packed together that not one more, if dropped among
them, could find a place. The next day, a while after sun
rise, the same sound and rushing noise was heard, and a deer
herd of the same front, with the same headlong haste came
down the bank and crossed the river, and continued to about
two in the afternoon, attended by small herds on either side,
after which small herds passed, but not with the same speed,
and by sun set finally ceased. When we returned to the
Factory and related what we had seen, they could hardly
believe us, and had we not by chance been up the river,
nothing would have been known of the passage of this great
herd : for the weather, for a long fortnight after the breaking
up of the ice is very precarious and uncomfor[t]able. Some
time after, conversing with some of the Natives on this herd
of Rein Deer they said that large herds do sometimes pass in
the spring, they [had] often seen their roads, but had seldom
seen the herds. The Factory next southward, [in] the direc-
DEER 101
tion of the Deer was that of Severn River,^ about 250 miles dis-
tant, they knew nothing of this herd and through the summer
had no more than usual. At York Factory it was other wise,
the Deer were more numerous than usual, but only near the
sea side. We attempted to estimate the number of Deer that
passed in this great herd but the Natives pointed out their
method, which was thought the best ; this was to allow the
Deer a full hour and a half (by the Sun) in the morning to
feed, and the same before sunset ; this would give ten full
hours of running, of what we thought twenty miles an hour,
which they reduced to twelve miles, observing that large
herds appear to run faster than they really do. By this
means they extended the herd of the first day to one hundred
and twenty miles in length and the herd of the second day to
half as much more, making the whole length of the herd to
be one hundred and eighty miles in length, by one hundred
yards in breadth. The Natives do not understand high
numbers, but they readily comprehend space, though they
cannot define it by miles and acres ; and their Clock is the
path of the Sun. By the above space, allowing to each deer,
ten feet by eight feet ; an area of eighty square feet ; the
number of Rein Deer that passed was 3,564,000, an immense
number ; without including the many small herds. Thus
what we learn by numbers, we learn by space. Then apply-
ing themselves to me, they said, You that look at the Stars
tell us the cause of the regular march of this herd of Deer.
I replied, " Instinct." What do you mean by that word.
It's meaning is " the free and voluntary actions of an animal
for it's self preservation." Oh Oh, then you think this herd
^ The factory or trading post near the mouth of the Severn river
was estabUshed by the Hudson's Bay Company sometime about the
middle of the eighteenth century to secure the trade of the Indians, whose
hunting-grounds were on the Severn river and its tributaries. The post
is situated 240 miles south-eastward along the shore of Hudson Bay from
York Factory on the west bank of the Severn river, six miles above its
mouth, and is still annually supplied from York Factory.
102 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of Deer rushed forward over deep swamps, in which some
perished, the others ran over them ; down steep banks to
break their necks ; swam across large Rivers, where the strong
drowned the weak ; went a long way through woods where
they had nothing to eat, merely to take care of themselves.
You white people, you look hke wise men, and talk like
fools. The Deer feeds quietly, and lays down when left to
itself. Do you not perceive this great herd was under the
direct order of their Manito and that he was with them, he
had gathered them together, made them take a regular line,
and drove them on to where they are to go : " And where
is that place. We don't know. But when he gets them
there, they will disperse, none of them will ever come back ;
and I had to give up my doctrine of Instinct, to that of their
Manito. I have sometimes thought Instinct, to be a word
invented by the learned to cover their ignorance of the ways
and doings of animals for their self preservation ; it is a
learned word and shuts up all the reasoning powers.
On this stony region, there is another species of Deer,
which I take to be a nondescript ; by the Nahathaway
Indians it is called " Mahthee Mooswah," (the ugly Moose) ^
it is found only on a small extent of country mostly about
the Hatchet Lake,^ in Latitude . . . and Longitude . . .
This deer seems to be a Hnk between the Moose and the Rein
Deer ; it is about twice the weight of the latter ; and has
the habits of the former ; it's horns are palmated somewhat
like those of a Moose, and it's colour is much the same ; it
feeds on buds and the tender branches of Willows and
Aspins, and also on moss. In all my wanderings I have
1 Evidently some form of the Woodland Caribou, but if recognizable,
not known to science. No specimens from this region appear to have been
examined by naturalists. The animals are said to be much larger than
the Barren Ground Caribou, Rangifer arcticus (Rich.). [E. A. P.]
* Hatchet lake is a small rectangular body of clear water lying on the
Stone river in latitude 58° 45' N. and longitude 103 45' W. Its greatest
length is twelve miles, and its greatest width seven miles.
DEER 108
seen only two alive, and but a glimpse of them, they bounded
off with the trot of the Moose ; and two that were killed by
the Hunters ; one of them was entirely cut up, the other
had only the bowels taken out ; this I wished to measure,
but I saw the Hunters eyed with superstition what I wished
to do, and desisted, and turned the matter off by enquiring
how many of their skins make a comfortable Tent, they told
me ten to twelve. They keep their haunts like the Moose,
and when started return to them, but [I] could not learn
whether they fed in rude circles, Hke the Moose ; Their
meat is almost as good as that of the Moose, and far better
than that of the Rein Deer ; When each of us was roasting
a small piece at the fire, one of the Hunters said to me. We
did not Hke to see you measure the Deer, for fear their Manito
would be angry, he is soon displeased, and does not like his
Deer to be killed, and has not many of them.
The reason that this species of deer is so very little known
is, it's haunts is on the verge of the barren lands, far to the
eastward of the route of the Traders, and the country pro-
duces but very few furrs.
CHAPTER VI
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS
Instruments — Observations — Indian superstition — Ability of the
Indian to travel — Journey down the Wini-peg River —
Character of the French Canadians — Reed Lake — Indian
character — ^mall pox — Amount of game — Trading Posts —
their position and food — White Fish — Nets — Beaver —
Bears — Frees — Canoes — Will o' the Wisp — Climate —
December — Fapahpahtum Conjuring for wind — A Gale —
Indian logic — Wiskahoo — Apistawahshish — Cannibalism.
IT may now [be well to] say something of myself, and of
the character the Natives and the french Canadians
entertained of me, they were almost my only com-
panions. My instruments for practical astronomy, were a
brass Sextant of ten inches radius, an achromatic Telescope
of high power for observing the Satellites of Jupiter and other
phenomena, one of the same construction for common use,
Parallel glasses and quicksilver horizon for double Altitudes ;
Compass, Thermometer, and other requisite instruments,
which I was in the constant practice of using in clear weather
for observations on the Sun, Moon. Planets and Stars ; to
determine the positions of the Rivers, Lakes, Mountains and
other parts of the country I surveyed from Hudson Bay to the
Pacific Ocean. Both Canadians and Indians often inquired
of me why I observed the Sun, and sometimes the Moon,
in the day time, and passed whole nights with my instru-
ments looking at the Moon and Stars. I told them it was to
determine the distance and direction from the place I observed
104
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 105
to other places ; neither the Canadians nor the Indians
beHeved me ; for both argued that if what I said was truth,
I ought to look to the ground, and over it ; and not to the
Stars. Their opinions were, that I was looking into futurity
and seeing every body, and what they were doing ; how to
raise the wind ; but did not believe I could calm it, this
they argued from seeing me obliged to wait the calming of
the wind on the great Lakes, to which the Indians added that
I knew where the Deer were, and other superstitious opinions.
During my life I have always been careful not to pretend to any
knowledge of futurity, and [said] that I knew nothing beyond
the present hour ; neither argument, nor ridicule had any
effect, and I had to leave them to their own opinions and yet
inadvertingly on my part, several things happened to confirm
their opinions One fine evening in February two Indians
came to the house to trade ; the Moon rose bright and clear
with the planet Jupiter a few degrees on it's east side ; and
the Canadians as usual predicted that Indians would come to
trade in the direction of this star. To show them the folly
of such predictions, I told them the same bright star, the
next night, would be as far from the Moon on it's west side ;
this of course took place from the Moon's motion in her
orbit ; and is the common occurence of almost every month,
and yet all parties were persuaded I had done it by some
occult power to falsify the predictions of the Canadians.
Mankind are fond of the marvelous, it seems to heighten their
character by relating they have seen such things. I had
always admired the tact of the Indian in being able to guide
himself through the darkest pine forests to exactly the place
he intended to go, his keen, constant attention on every
thing ; the removal of the smallest stone, the bent or broken
twig ; a shght mark on the ground, aU spoke plain language
to him. I was anxious to acquire this knowledge, and often
being in company with them, sometimes for several months,
I paid attention to what they pointed out to me, and became
106 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
almost equal to some of them ; which became of great use
to me : The North West Company ^ of Furr Traders, from
their Depot in Lake Superior sent off Brigades of Canoes
loaded with about three Tons weight of Merchandise, Pro-
visions and Baggage ; those for the most distant trading
Posts are sent off first ; with an allowance of two days time
between each Brigade to prevent incumbrances on the
Carrying Places ; I was in my first year in the third Brigade
of six Canoes each and having nothing to do but sketch off
my survey and make Observations, I was noticing how far
we gained, or lost ground on the Brigade before us, by the
fires they made, and other marks, as we were equally manned
with five men to each canoe : In order to prevent the winter
coming on us, before we reached our distant winter quarters
the Men had to work very hard from dayhght to sunset, or
later, and at night slept on the ground, constantly worried
by Musketoes ; and had no time to look about them ; I
found we gained very little on them ; at the end of fifteen
days we had to arrive at Lake Winipeg, (that is the Sea Lake
from it's size) and for more than two days it had been blowing
1 The North- West Company was first formed in 1783, v/hen a number
of English fur-traders trading from Montreal, realizing that competition
was proving ruinous to them and to the Canadian fur-trade, united their
forces. The chief figures in the new company were Peter Pond, Peter
Pangman, Benjamin and Joseph Frobisher, and Simon McTavish. Those
traders who were not included in this company formed a rival organization
under the name of Gregory, McLeod, and Company. After three or four
years of competition, these two companies were amalgamated in 1787
under the title of the North-West Company. The amalgamated company
operated throughout the west until 1798, when several of the partners,
among them Alexander Mackenzie, broke away from their former associ-
ates, and formed an independent company, officially styled Forsyth,
Richardson, and Company, but popularly known as the X Y Company.
For the next six years these two companies, composed of men who had
been old associates, and who had been trained in the same school, waged
a severe commercial war with each other ; but in 1 804 they decided to
reunite their interests in one company, which retained the name of the
North-West Company. In 1821 the North- West Company was merged in
the Hudson's Bay Company.
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 107
a north west gale, which did not allow the Brigade before us
to proceed ; and I told the Guide, that early the next morning
we should see them ; these Guides have charge of conducting
the march and are all proud of coming up to the canoes
ahead of them, and by dawn of day we entered the Lake
now calm, and as the day came on us, saw the Brigade that
were before us, only one Mile ahead of us. The Guide and
the men shouted with joy, and when we came up to them
told them of my wonderful predictions, and that I had
pointed out every place they had slept at, and aU by looking
at the Stars ; one party seemed deHghted in being credulous,
the other in exageration ; such are ignorant men, who never
give themselves a moments reflection. The fact is Jean
Baptiste wiU not think, he is not paid for it ; when he has a
minute's respite he smokes his pipe, his constant companion
and all goes well ; he will go through hardships, but requires
a beUy full, at least once a day, good Tobacco to smoke, a
warm Blanket, and a kind Master who will take his share of
hard times and be the first in danger. Naval and MiHtary
Men are not fit to command them in distant countries, neither
do they place confidence in one of themselves as a leader ;
they always prefer an Enghshman, but they ought always to
be kept in constant employment however Hght it may be.
Having passed eight winters in different parts of this
Stony Region, and as many open Seasons in discovering part
of it's many Rivers and Lakes, and surveying them ; and as
the productions, the mode and manner of subsistence is
everywhere the same ; to prevent repetition I shall confine
myself to a central position, for the phenomena of the
cUmate, and every thing else worth attention ; This place is
[called] the Reed Lake^ (Peepeequoonuskoo Sakahagan) by
^ The trading post at this lake was built in 1794 by Thompson for the
Hudson's Bay Company ; and in it he spent the following winter. Later,
he spent the winter of 1805-06 not far from the same place while trading
for the North-West Company. The lake, which has an area of 85 square
miles, is situated in the forest area north of the Saskatchewan river, and
108 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the Natives. It is a sheet of water about forty miles in length,
by three to five miles in width ; the land all around it,
sometimes showing cliffs, but in most places rising gently to
about the height of one hundred feet, everywhere having fine
forests of Birch Aspins and several kinds of Pine : the Trading
House in Latitude 54° 40' N. Longitude 101° 30' west of
Greenwich. The Thermometer was made by Dolland and
divided to 102 degrees below Zero. This section of the
Stony Region is called the Musk Rat Country and contains
an area of about 22,360 square miles, of which, full two fifths
of this surface is Rivers and Lakes, having phenomena distinct
from the dry, elevated, distant, interior countries. The
Natives are Nahathaway Indians, whose fathers from time
beyond any tradition, have hunted in these Lands ; in con-
versing with them on their origin, they appear never to have
turned their minds to this subject ; and [think] that mankind
and the animals are in a constant state of succession ; and
the time of their great grandfathers is the extent of their
actual knowledge of times past ; their tradition of the
Deluge and of the Rainbow I have already mentioned ; yet
their stories all refer to times when Men were much taller
and stronger than at present, the animals more numerous,
and many could converse with mankind, particularly, the
Bear, Beaver, Lynx and Fox. Writers on the North American
Indians always write as comparing them, with themselves
who are aU men of education, and of course [the Indians]
lose by comparison ; this is not fair ; let them be compared
with those who are uneducated in Europe, yet even in this
comparison the Indian has the disadvantage in not having
the light of Christianity. Of course his moral character has
not the firmness of christian morality, but in practice he is
just at the foot of a low escarpment of limestone which rises to the south
of it. Except on the south side the rock underlying the surrounding
country is granite, but overlying the granite in many places is a moderate
thickness of good clay soil.
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 109
fully equal to those of his class in Europe ; living without
law, they are a law to themselves. The Indian is said to be
a creature of apathy, when he appears to be so, he is in an
assumed character to conceal what is passing in his mind ;
as he has nothing of the almost infinite diversity of things
which interest and amuse the civilised man ; his passions,
desires and affections are strong, however appeared subdued,
and engage the whole man ; the law of retaliation, which is
fuUy allowed, makes the life of man respected ; and in general
he abhors the sheding of blood, and should sad necessity
compel him to it, which is sometimes the case, he is held to
be an unfortunate man ; but he who has committed wilful
murder is held in abhorrence, as one with whom the life of
no person is in safety, and possessed with an evil spirit. When
Hudson Bay was discovered, and the first trading settlement
made, the Natives were far more numerous than at present.
In the year 1782, the small pox^ from Canada extended
to them, and more than one .half of them died ; since which
although they have no enemies, their country very healthy,
yet their numbers increase very slowly. The Musk Rat
country, of which I have given the area, may have ninety
two famiHes, each of seven souls, giving to each family an
area of two hundred and forty eight square miles of hunting
grounds ; or thirty five square miles to each soul, a very
thin population. A recent writer (Ballantyne)^ talks of myriads
1 The exact date when smallpox first spread among the Indians through-
out the North-West is not quite certain ; but it would appear that it was
sometime during 1781, and that it disappeared, or at least greatly de-
creased in virulence, in 1782. A full account of the havoc played among
the Indians by this dread disease will be found in Thompson's own words
on pages 321-25.
* It was about the time when Thompson was writing his memoirs
that R. M. Ballantyne began to publish his interesting stories of life among
the fur-traders of the Hudson's Bay Company in western Canada. Ballan-
tyne was then a young man, and Thompson was getting very old ; and it
is possible that the exuberance of spirit shown by the former may have
grated on the mature judgment of the older man. Game was then, and
is yet, fairly abundant throughout many parts of what Thompson calls
no DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of wild animals ; such writers talk at random, they have never
counted, nor calculated ; the animals are by no means
numerous, and only in sufficient numbers to give a tolerable
subsistence to the Natives, who are too often obhged to live
on very little food, and sometimes all but perish with hunger.
Very few Beaver are to be found, the Bears are not many
and all the furr bearing animals an Indian can kill can scarcely
furnish himself and family with the bare necessaries of life.
A strange Idea prevails among these Natives, and also of all
the Indians to the Rocky Mountains, though unknown to
each other, that when they were numerous, before they
were destroyed by the Small Pox all the animals of every
species were also very numerous and more so in comparison
of the number of Natives than at present ; and this was
confirmed to me by old Scotchmen in the service of the
Hudson's Bay Company, and by the Canadians from Canada ;
the knowledge of the latter extended over all the interior
countries, yet no disorder was known among the animals ;
the fact was certain, and nothing they knew of could account
for it ; it might justly be supposed the destruction of Mankind
would allow the animals to increase, even to become formidable
to the few Natives who survived, but neither the Bison, the
Deer, nor the carnivorous animals increased, and as I have
already remarked, are no more than sufficient for the subsis-
tence of the Natives and Traders. The trading Houses over
the whole country are situated on the banks of lakes, of at
least twenty miles in length by two or three miles in width ;
and as much larger as may be, as it is only large and deep
Lakes that have Fish sufficient to maintain the Trader and
his Men, for the Indians at best can only afford a Deer now
and then.
Some Lakes give only what is called a Fall Fishery. This
the Muskrat country, but the hunter's life is everywhere a precarious one,
for the wild animals may move quickly from place to place and the natives,
who need to obtain food daily in order to live, may not be able to follow
them or to find them quickly enough to avert starvation.
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 111
fishery commences in October and lasts to about Christmas ;
the fish caught are white fish^ and pike.^ Whatever is not
required for the day is frozen and laid by in a hoard ; and
with all care is seldom more than enough for the winter
and a fish once frozen loses it's good taste unless kept in that
state until it is thrown into the kettle of boiling water. Fish
thawed and then boiled are never good ; We who pass the
winter on fish, and sometimes also the summer, are the best
judges, for we have nothing with them, neither butter nor
sauces ; and too often not a grain of salt. The best Lakes
are those that have a steady fishery ; and according to the
number and length of the Nets give a certain number of
White Fish ; throughout the winter. The deep Lakes that
have sandy, pebbly beaches, with bottoms of the same may
be depended on for a steady fishery The Fish on which the
Traders place dependance are the White Fish, in such Lakes
as I have last described. It is a rich well tasted, nourishing
food ; but in shoal muddy Lakes it is poor and not well
tasted ; and when a new trading House is built which is
almost every year, every one is anxious to know the quaUty
of the fish it contains for whatever it is they have no other
for the winter. These fish vary very much in size and weight,
from two to thirteen pounds and each great Lake appears to
have a sort peculiar to itself, it is preyed upon by the Pike
and Trout ; and also the white headed, or bald, Eagle. The
seine is seldom used, it is too heavy and expensive, and useless
in winter. The set Net is that which is in constant use ;
those best made are of hoUand twine, with a five and a half
inch mesh but this mesh must be adapted to the size of the
fish and ranges from three to seven inches ; the best length is
fifty fathoms, the back fines, on which the net is extended and
fastened are of small cord ; every thing must be neat and
fine : Instead of Corks and Leads, small stones are tied to
the bottom line with twine at every two fathoms, opposite
^ Coregonus. [E. A. P.] " Esox lucius Linn. [E. A. P.]
112 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
to each on the upper line, a float of light pine, or cedar wood
is tied which keeps the net distended ; both in summer and
winter the best depth for nets, is three to five fathom water ;
in shoal water the fish are not so good. In winter the nets
being sheltered by the ice, the fishery is more steady, not
being disturbed by gales of wind. In some Lakes in Spring
and Autumn there are an abundance of grey^ and red Carp ;'^
the former have so very many small bones that only the head
and a piece behind it are eaten ; but the red Carp are a good
fish though weak food. The daily allowance of a Man is
eight pounds of fish, which is held to be equal to five pounds
of meat ; almost the only change through the year are hares
and grouse, very dry eating ; a few Martens,^ a chance Beaver,*
Lynx^ and Porcupine.'^ Vegetables would be acceptable but
[are] not worth the trouble and risk of raising, and almost
every small trading house is deserted during the summer, or
only two men [are] left to take care of the place ; every person
with very few exceptions, enjoys good health, and we neither
had, nor required a medical Man. Formerly the Beavers
were very numerous, the many Lakes and Rivers gave them
ample space ; and the poor Indian had then only a pointed
stick shaped and hardened in the fire, a stone Hatchet, Spear
and Arrow heads of the same ; thus armed he was weak
against the sagacious Beaver, who, on the banks of a Lake,
made itself a house of a foot thick, or more ; composed of
earth and small flat stones, crossed and bound together with
pieces of wood ; upon which no impression could be made
but by fire. But when the arrival of the White People had
changed all their weapons from stone to iron and steel, and
added the fatal Gun, every animal fell before the Indian ;
^ Moxostoma lesueuri (Richardson). [E. A. P.]
* Catostomus catostomus (Forster). [E. A. P.]
* Martes a. ahieticola (Preble). [E. A. P.]
* Castor canadensis Kuhl. [E. A. P.]
' Lynx canadensis Kerr. [E. A. P.]
* Erethizon dorsatum (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 113
the Bear was no longer dreaded, and the Beaver became a
desirable animal for food and clothing, and the furr a valuable
article of trade ; and as the Beaver is a stationary animal,
it could be attacked at any convenient time in all seasons,
and thus their numbers soon became reduced.
The old Indians, when speaking of their ancestors, wonder
how they could live as the Beaver was wiser, and the Bear
stronger, than them, and confess, that if they were deprived
of the Gun, they could not live by the Bow and Arrow,
and must soon perish. The Beaver skin is the standard by
which other Furrs are traded ; and London prices have very
little influence on this value of barter, which is more a matter
of expedience and convenience to the Trader and the Native,
than of real value. The only Bears of this country, are the
small black Bear,^ with a chance Yellow Bear, this latter has
a fine furr and trades for three Beavers in barter, when full
grown. The Black Bear is common and according to size
passes for one or two Beavers, the young are often tamed by
the Natives, and are harmless and playful, until near full
grown, when they become troublesome, and are killed, or
sent into the woods ; while they can procure roots and
berries, they look for nothing else. But in the Spring, when
they leave their winter dens, they can get neither the one,
nor the other, prowl about, and go to the Rapids where the
Carp are spawning ; here Bruin lives in plenty ; but not
content with what it can eat, amuses itself with tossing
ashore ten times more than it can devour, each stroke of it's
fore paw sending a fish eight or ten yards according to it's
size ; the fish thus thrown ashore attract the Eagle and the
Raven ; ^ the sight of these birds flying about, leads the
Indian to the place, and Bruin loses his Hfe and his skin.
The meat of the Bear feeding on roots and berries becomes
^ Ursus americanus Pallas. The so-called Yellow Bear is merely a
colour phase of the Black Bear. [E. A. P.]
2 Corvus corax principalis Ridgw^ay. [E. A. P.]
H
114 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
very fat and good, and in this condition it enters it's den
for the winter ; at the end of which the meat is still good,
and has some fat, but the very first meal of fish the taste
of the meat is changed for the worse, and soon becomes
disagreeable. When a Mahmees Dog, in the winter season
has discovered a den, and the Natives go to kill the Bear,
on uncovering the top of the den, Bruin is found roused out
of it's dormant state, and sitting ready to defend itself ; the
eldest man now makes a speech to it ; reproaching the Bear
and all it's race with being the old enemies of Man, killing
the children and women, when it was large and strong ; but
now, since the Manito has made him, small and weak to what
he was before, he has all the will, though not the power to
be as bad as ever, that he is treacherous and cannot be trusted,
that although he has sense he makes bad use of it, and must
therefore be killed ; parts of the speech have many repeti-
tions to impress it's truth on the Bear, who all the time is
grinning and growling, wiUing to fight, but more willing to
escape, until the axe descends on it's head, or [it] is shot ; the
latter more frequently, as the den is often under the roots
of fallen trees, and protected by the branches of the roots.
When a Bear thus killed was hauled out of it's den, I
enquired of the Indian who made the speech, whether he
really thought the Bear understood him. He repHed, " how
can you doubt it, did you not see how ashamed I made him,
and how he held down his head ; " " He might well hold
down his head, when you were flourishing a heavy axe over
it, with which you killed him." On this animal they have
several superstitions, and he acts a prominent part in many
of their tales. All the other furr bearing animals have been
already noticed. On the western parts of this region the
Forests have trees of a finer and larger growth, and now
contain two kinds of Birch, the white ^ and the red ; ^ one of
1 Betula papyrifera Marsh. [E. A. P.]
^ Probably Betula alaskana Sargent. [E. A. P.]
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 115
Poplar ^ and one of Aspin,^ one kind of Larch,^ two of Fir ; *
four of Pine ; ^ with Alders and Willows. Of these the White
Birch is the most valuable, and contributes more than all
the others to the necessaries and comforts of life. Of the
Birch their Bows, Axe helves and Spear handles are made,
and several other things ; in the Spring the sap, when boiled
down, yields a weak molasses : but the most useful part is
the Rind, which is peculiar to this tree ; the bark is of a redish
color, and good for tanning : this bark is covered with a
Rind, it's growth in a horizontal, or longitudinal, direction ;
while that of the Tree, and it's bark are vertical ; in my
travels I have noticed, that the thickness of the Rind depends
on the climate ; the colder the climate the thicker the Birch
Rind ; on the west side of the Mountains where the winter
is very mild, the White Birch is a noble large Tree, but the
Rind too thin to be useful for Canoes. In this region, few
white Birch exceed thirty inches in girth ; but in general
the Rind is excellent for all purposes and is from two eights
to three eights in thickness ; it is all marked with what is
called cores on the outside of the rind, of about an inch in
length ; and narrow, when these go through the rind, it
makes it useless for canoes. When the Natives see a Birch
tree with deep cores, they say it has been severely flogged
by Weesaukejauk (the Flatterer) for by their tradition, when
the Trees were renovated after the deluge, Weesaukejauk
commanded them all to appear before him, which order they
all obeyed but the Birch Tree ; which for disobedience he
flogged, of which the cores are the marks. The best time
for raising the rind off the Birch Tree is the early part of the
summer ; the tree being smooth is difficult to ascend, and
> Populus balsamifera Linn. [E. A. P.]
* Populus tremuloides Michx. [E. A. P.]
^ Larix laricina (Du Roi). [E. A. P.]
* Abies halsamea (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
^ Pinus divaricata (Ait.). Thompson evidently had in mind other
species found farther west. [E. A. P.]
116 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
for this purpose the Native ties a strong leather cord to the
great toes of his feet, leaving a space between them of about
one foot, and having a strong square headed knife, very sharp
at the point, in his belt, he ascends the tree to as high as the
Rind is good, then raising a small strip from around the tree,
in a straight line downwards cuts quite through the rind,
which readily leaves the bark, and while the sap is rising comes
off so freely that two persons with Hght poles keep it to the
tree until it can be carefully taken down ; it is then warmed
and it's circular form made flat, laid on the ground, and kept
so, by light logs of wood ; and thus [it] becomes fit for use.
The common length from one tree is from nine to fifteen
feet, with a breadth of twenty four to thirty inches, very
few trees yield a greater breadth, in this cHmate. As the
Birch Rind is impervious to water ; Canoes are made of it
of all sizes to thirty feet in length, by four to five feet in
breadth on the middle bar ; this large size is made use of
by the Traders, for the conveyance of furrs and goods, and
is so light, it is carried by two men, when turned up. On
shore, it affords good shelter to the Men, against Rain and
the night. The canoes of the Natives are from ten to sixteen
feet in length, and breadth in proportion, during the open
season, they are almost constantly in them ; hunting ; re-
moving from place to place, the Rivers and numerous Lakes
giving free access through the whole country. Their dishes
and domestic utensils are mostly of Birch Rind, which are
made of various sizes, and pack up with [each] other and being
light, with a smooth, firm, surface are easily kept clean. This
Rind is inflamable, and makes bright torches. For coverings
to their tents and lodges, the Rind is sewed together so as
to take the form required ; and being water proof, make a
light comfortable tent in all weathers, and when the rain is
over, the Natives can directly remove ; whereas a leather
tent when soaked with rain, requires a day's time and fire to
dry it. Unfortunately the cold of winter renders it brittle
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 117
and liable to accidents ; and it must be warmed before it
can be rolled up for removal ; and the same to unroll it.
The red Birch has a tougher wood, and in this respect is
preferred to the White, but it's rind is thin, and as it grows
among rocks, very often is small, crooked and knotty. The
Fir is resinous, and makes good flambeaux's for spearing fish
at night. The Larch is in request for making flat Sleds, used
by the Natives for the removal of their goods and provisions
in winter, it sparkles too much to be used for fire wood,
and all the Pine woods are more or less the same for fuel.
The Firs and resinous Pines when wholly decayed, become
fine sand, without any vegetable mould, but all the trees
and willows, not of the pine genus, enrich the soil by the
decay of the leaves and the wood ; The Larch is leafless all
winter, and other Pines shed their leaves in summer, yet they
also become sand, and do not profit the soil. The great
expanse of Lake surface in this region, causes phenomena,
that are peculiar to such a surface ; In the winter season,
every calm clear night, especially in the early part ; there
are innumerable very small luminous, meteoric points, which
are visible for the twinkling of an eye, and disappear. When
they are more numerous and brighter than usual, they fore-
tell a gale of wind. On one occasion, five of us had to leave
our new built winter house, as the fishery could not maintain
us, and try to get another trading house where the fish were
more plentifull ; On coming to the Susquagemow Lake,^ of
about thirty miles in length, by three to five miles in width ;
it was so sHghtly frozen over we did not think proper to cross
1 Suskwagemow or Sturgeon lake, now known as Landing lake, lies
a short distance north-west of Nelson river, from which it is reached
by a portage known as Cross Portage, one and a half miles in length.
The water from it flows northward through the Grass river, which flows
into the Nelson river a short distance above Split lake. The Hudson
Bay Railway is at present being constructed down the valley of this
stream. The incident here referred to probably occurred in the autumn
of 1792.
118 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
it, but [preferred to] wait until the ice became stronger.
This was in November, roaming about for hares and grouse ;
I found a fine River of about thirty yards in width that
entered the Lake through a marsh ; about half a mile up
which, was a Beaver House, with a few yards of open water,
kept from freezing over by the Beaver. The Moon was full
and rose beautifully over the east end of the Lake ; While
the water can be kept open, in the early part of the night
the Beaver swim about ; and Andrew Davy, a tall young
Scotchman and myself took our guns and lay down near the
Beaver House to shoot the Beaver as they swam about ; a
Beaver came near to Andrew, his gun snapped, the Beaver
gave a smart stroke on the water with his broad tail, as if
to bid us good night, and plunged into his house ; although
there was no more hope for that night, being hungry, we
continued to watch until about eleven O'clock ; As we were
about to rise, a brilliant light [rose] over the east end of the
Lake, its greatest length ; it was a Meteor of a globular form,
and appeared larger than the Moon, which was then high ;
it seemed to come direct towards us, lowering as it came,
when within three hundred yards of us, it struck the River
ice, with a sound like a mass of jelly, was dashed into in-
numerable luminous pieces and instantly expired. Andrew
would have run away but he had no time to do so ; curiosity
chained me to the spot. We got up, went to our fire, found
nothing to eat, and lay down. As the ice of the River was
covered with about one sixth of an inch of frozen snow,
just enough to show our footsteps, the next morning we went
to see what marks this meteor had made on the ice, but
could not discover that a single particle was marked, or re-
moved ; it's form appeared globular, and from its size must
have had some weight ; it had no tail, and no luminous
sparks came from it until dashed to pieces. The Meteors
that have been seen in Europe, have all appeared to be of a
fiery nature, some have exploded with a loud noise, and
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 119
stones have descended from them. Two, or three nights
afterw-ards, I was, as usual roaming about to find some game,
about six in the evening, from the east end of the lake, coming
in the same direction, I saw a Meteor, which appeared larger
but not so bright as the first ; I was near the Beaver house,
but walking in a large grove of fine Aspins, the Meteor entered
the wood about eight feet above the ground, as it struck
the trees, pieces flew from it, and went out ; as it passed
close hy me striking the trees with the sound of a mass of
jeUy, I noticed them ; although it must have lost much of
it's size from the many trees it struck, it went out of my
sight, a large mass. The Aspins have on their bark a whitish
substance like flour, after dry weather ; the next day I
examined the Aspins struck by the Meteor, but even this fine
flour on the bark was not marked ; I was at a loss what to
think of it, it's stroke gave sound, and therefore must have
substance. These two Meteors were, perhaps, compressed
bodies of phosphoric air ; but without the least heat, for had
there been any, the second Meteor passed so near to me I
must have felt it.
I have already described the brilliant Rime which covers
the WiUows and Shrubs along the shores of Hudson's Bay,
this is readily accounted for, by the evaporation from the
sea ; but the inland Lake shores have it equally brilliant,
though not in such abundance ; and [it] also proceeds from
the evaporation from the Lakes though frozen over, and the
open rapids, and half frozen swamps have it in abundance,
the Lake shores less, until swept away by a gale of wind, to
be reformed in calm weather. It is well known that water
frozen into ice, the latter has a greater bulk than the quantity
of water frozen ; and however soHd the ice appears, it is
actually porous : When the lakes are frozen over and there is
from three to four inches in thickness, the vapours through it,
form plots of ice flowers, which are composed of thin shining
leaves of ice round a centre, and have a brilliant appearance ;
120 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
they are of all sizes, some so small as to be called snow pearl.
The clearest ice have the plots of small flowers, that which is
opaque has the largest flowers ; when the Sun shines, the
leaves are sHghtly tinged with the colours of the Rainbow,
have fine gaudy appearance, but [are] too bright for the eye
to bear any time ; the first fall of snow covers them to be
seen no more.
What is called Mirage is common on all these Lakes, but
frequently [is] simply an elevation of the woods and shores
that bound the horizon ; yet at times draw attention to the
change of scenery it exhibits, and on these Lakes has often
kept me watching it for many minutes ; and [I] would have
stayed longer if the cold had permitted : The first and most
changeable Mirage is seen in the latter part of February and
the month of March, the weather clear, the wind calm, or
light ; the Thermometer from ten above to twelve degrees
below zero, the time about ten in the morning. On one
occasion, going to an Isle where I had two traps for Foxes,
when about one mile distant, the ice between me and the
Isle appeared of a concave form, which, if I entered, I should
slide into it's hollow, sensible of the illusion, it had the power
to perplex me. I found my snow shoes, on a level, and ad-
vanced slowly, as afraid to slide into it ; in about ten minutes
this mirage ceased, the ice became [distinct] and showed a
level surface, and with confidence I walked to my traps, in
one of which I found a red Fox ; ^ this sort of Mirage is not
frequent. That most common elevates and depresses objects,
and sometimes makes them appear to change places : In the
latter end of February at the Reed Lake, at it's west end, a
Mirage took place in one of it's boldest forms ; About three
miles from me was the extreme shore of the Bay ; the Lake
was near three miles in width, in which was a steep Isle of
rock, and another of tail Pines ; on the other side a bold
^ Vulpes fulva (Desmarest). [E. A.. P.]
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 121
Point of steep rock. The Mirage began slowly to elevate all
objects, then gently to lower them, until the Isles, and the
Point appeared like black spots on the ice, and no higher
than it's surface ; the above bold Bay Shore, was a dark
black curved Hne on the ice ; in the time of three minutes,
they all arose to their former height, and became elevated
to twice their height, beyond the Bay, the rising grounds,
distant eight miles, with all their woods appeared, and re-
mained somewhat steady for a few minutes ; the Isles and
Point again disappeared ; the Bay Shore with the distant
Forests, came rolling forward, with an undulating motion,
as if in a dance, the distant Forests became so near to me I
could see their branches, then with the same motion retired
to half distance ; the Bay shore could not be distinguished,
it was blended with the distant land ; thus advancing and
retiring with different elevations for about fifteen minutes,
when the distant Forests vanished, the Isles took their place
and the Lake shores their form ; the whole wild scenery was
a powerful illusion, too fleeting and changeful for any pencil.
This was one of the clearest and most distinct Mirages I had
ever seen. There can be no doubt it is the effect of a cause
which, perhaps, was waves of the atmosphere loaded with
vapours, though not perceptible to the eye, between the
beholder and the objects on which the mirage acts, with the
Sun in a certain position, when the objects were seen on the
ridge of the wave, it gave them their elevation ; when in
the hollow of the wave, their greatest depression ; and viewed
obHquely to the direction of the wave, the objects appeared
to change places. There may be a better theory to account
for the Mirage.
While the Mirage is in fuU action, the scenery is so clear
and vivid, the illusion so strong, as to perplex the Hunter
and the Traveller ; it appears more like the power of magic,
than the play of nature.
When enquiring of the Natives what they thought of it,
122 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
they said it was Manito Korso ; the work of a Manito ; and
with this argument they account for every thing that is
uncommon.
Although the cHmate and country of which I am writing
is far better than that of Hudson's Bay, yet the climate is
severe in Winter the Thermometer often from thirty to forty
degrees below Zero. The month of December is the coldest ;
the long absence of the Sun gives full effect to the action of
the cold ; the Snow increases in depth, it may be said to fall
as dry as dust ; the ice rapidly increases in thickness, and the
steady cold of the rest of winter adds but little to that of the
end of this month ; but it's contraction by intense cold,
causes the ice to rend in many places with a loud rumbHng
noise, and through these rents, water is often thrown out,
and flows over part of the ice, making bad walking. This
month has very variable weather, sometimes a calm of several
days, then Gales of wind with light snow, which from it's
Hghtness is driven about Hke dust. This dull month of long
nights we wish to pass away ; the country affords no tallow
for candles ; nor fish oil for lamps ; the light of the fire is
what we have to work and read by. Christmas when it comes
finds us glad to see it and pass ; we have nothing to welcome
it with. In one of the calms of this month Tapahpahtum, a
good hunter came to us for some provisions and fish hooks,
he said his three wives and his children had had very little
to eat for nearly a whole Moon adding you may be sure that
we suffer hunger when I come to beg fish, and get hooks
for my women to angle with. He took away about thirty
pounds of fish, which he had to carry about twenty miles to
his tent. I felt for him, for nothing but sad necessity can
compel a Nahathaway hunter to carry away fish, and angle
for them, this is too mean for a hunter ; meat he carries with
pleasure, but fish is degradation. The calm still continued ;
and two days after Tapapahtum came in the evening ; he
looked somewhat wild ; he was a powerful man of strong
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 123
passions ; as usual I gave him a bit of Tobacco, he sat down
and smoked, inhaling the smoke as if he would have drawn
the tobacco through the pipe stem ; then saying, now I have
smoked, I may speak ; I do not come to you for fish, I hope
never to disgrace myself again ; I now come for a wind
which you must give me ; in the mood he was in to argue
with him was of no use, and I said, why did you not bring
one of your women with you, she would have taken some fish
to the tent ; " My women are too weak, they snare a hare,
or two every day, barely enough to keep them ahve. I am
come for a wind which you must give me " ; " You know as
well as I do that the Great Spirit alone is master of the Winds ;
you must apply to him, and not to me " ; " Ah, that is always
your way of talking to us, when you will not hear us, then
you talk to us of the Great Spirit. I want a Wind, I must
have it, now think on it, and dream, how I am to get it." I
lent him an old Bison Robe to sleep on ; which was all we
could spare. The next day was calm ; he sat on the floor in
a despondent mood, at times smoking his pipe ; and saying
to me, " Be kind to me, be kind to me, give me a Wind that
we may Hve." I told him the Good Spirit alone could
cause the wind to blow, and my French Canadians were as
foolish as the poor Indian ; saying to one another, it would
be a good thing, and well done, if he got a wind ; we should
get meat to eat. The night was very fine and clear, I passed
most of it observing the Moon and Stars as usual ; the small
meteors were very numerous, which indicated a Gale of
Wind ; the morning rose fine, and before the appearance of
the Sun, tho' calm with us, the tops of the taU Pines were
waving, all foreteUing a heavy gale, which usually follows a
long calm ; all this was plain to every one ; Very early
Tapahpahtum said ; Be kind and give me a strong wind ;
vexed with him, I told him to go, and take care that the
trees did not fall upon him ; he shouted " I have got it " ;
sprang from the floor, snatched his gun, whipt on his Snow
124 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Shoes, and dashed away at five miles an hour ; the gale from
North East came on as usual with snow and high drift, and
lasted three days ; for the two first days we could not visit
the nets, which sometimes happens ; the third day the drift
ceased, but the nets had been too long in the water without
being washed, and we had to take them up. On this gale of
wind, a common occurence, I learnt my men were more
strangely foolish than the Indians ; something better than
two months after this gale, I sent three of the men with
letters to an other trading house and to bring some articles
I wanted ; here these men related how I had raised a storm
of wind for the Indian, but had made it so strong that for
two days they got no fish from the nets, adding, they thought
I would take better care another time. In these distant
solitudes. Men's minds seem to partake of the wildness of
the country they live in. Four days after Tapahpahtum
with one of his women came, he had killed three Moose Deer,
of which he gave us one, for which I paid him ; He was now
in his calm senses : and I reasoned with him on the folly of
looking to any one, to get what the Good Spirit alone could
give, and that it made us all Hable to his anger. He said I
believe it, I know it, I spent the autumn and the early part
of the winter working on Beaver Houses, it is hard work,
and only gives meat while we are working ; When the Snow
was well on the ground I left off to hunt Moose Deer, but
the winds were weak, and unsteady ; my women had to
snare hares, my little boy, with his Bow killed a few grouse,
which kept us aHve until the long Calm came. I waited a
little, then in the evening I took my Rattle and tambour
and sung to the Great Spirit and the Manito of the Winds ;
the next morning I did the same, and took out of my medicine
bag, sweet smeUing herbs and laid them on a small fire to
the Manito. I smoked and sung to him for a wind, but he
shut his ears and would not listen to me : for three days I
did the same ; but he kept his ears shut. I became afraid
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 125
that he was angry with me ; I left my tent and came to you,
my head was not right ; what you gave me was a relief for
my women and children, I again sung, but the wind did not
blow, he would not hear me, my heart was sore, and I came
to you, in hopes that you had power over the winds ; for we
all believe the Great Spirit speaks to you in the night, when
you are looking at the Moon and Stars, and tells you of what
we know nothing. It seems a natural weakness of the human
mind when in distress, to hope from others, equally helpless,
when we have lost confidence in ourselves. Wiskahoo was
naturally a cheerful, good natured, careless man, but hard
times had changed him. He was a good Beaver worker and
trapper, but an indifferent Moose Hunter, now and then
killed one by chance, he had been twice so reduced by hunger,
as to be twice on the point of eating one of his children to
save the others, when he was fortunately found and relieved
by the other Natives ; these sufferings had, at times, unhinged
his mind, and made him dread being alone, he had for about
a month, been working Beaver, and had now joined Tapap-
pahtum ; and their Tents were together ; he came to trade,
and brought some meat the other had sent. It is usual when
the Natives come to trade to give them a pint of grog ; a
liquor which I always used very sparingly ; it was a bad
custom, but could not be broken off : Wiskahoo as soon as
he got it, and while drinking of it, used to say in a thoughtful
mood " Nee weet to go " " I must be a Man eater." This
word seemed to imply " I am possessed of an evil spirit to
eat human flesh " ; " Wee tee go " is the evil Spirit, that
devours humankind. When he had said this a few times,
one of the Men used to tie him sHghtly, and he soon became
quiet ; these sad thoughts at times came upon him, from the
dreadful distress he had suffered ; and at times took him in
his tent, when he always allowed himself to be tied during
this sad mood, which did not last long.
Three years afterwards this sad mood came upon him so
126 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
often, that the Natives got alarmed. They shot him, and
burnt his body to ashes, to prevent his ghost remaining in
this world. Apistawahshish (the Dwarf) was of low stature,
but strongly made and very active, a good Beaver worker,
and a second rate hunter of Moose deer ; he was careful and
industrious ; When the leaves of the trees had fallen, and
winter was coming on, he had parted from the others to
work Beaver ; at first he was successful ; but the third house
he attacked, the beaver had worked many stones into it, [so]
that he broke his ice chissel and blunted one of his axes useless ;
the other was aU they had to cut fire wood ; the edges of the
Lakes were frozen over and canoes could not be used. Dis-
tressing times came, and they were reduced to use as food
the youngest child to save the others. They were so weak
they could barely get a little wood for the fire ; sitting in
sorrow and despair looking at the child next to lose it's
life, a Rein Deer came and stood a few yards from the
tent door ; he shot it and [it] became the means of saving
them, and recovering their strength ; and for the winter
he was a fortunate hunter. Both himself, his family, and
the Natives believed that this Deer was sent by the Manito
in pity to himself and family ; he kept the skin, which
I saw.
The Indians did not hold him culpable, they felt they
were all Hable to the same sad affliction ; and the Manito
sending him a Deer, showed a mark of favor. As the strong
affections of an Indian is centered in his children, for they
may be said to be all he has to depend upon, they beHeve
the dreadful distressed state of mind which necessity forces
on them to take the life of one of their children to preserve
the others, leaves such sad indelible impressions that the
parents are never again the same [as] they were before, and
are Hable to aberrations of mind. It is only on this Region
and the Lakes westward to near the great plains, where there
are Horses, that the Natives are subject to this distress of
LIFE AMONG THE NAHATHAWAYS 127
hunger, their Dogs are starved and do them very little good.
If the country contained but half the Deer and other animals
some writers speak of, the Natives would not suffer as they
do. Notwithstanding the hardships the Natives sometimes
suffer, they are strongly attached to the country of Rivers,
Lakes, and Forests.
CHAPTER VII
CHEPAWYANS
Dinnae or Che-pazvyans — Origin of Name — Character — Hard
lot of Women — Religion — Tradition as to Creation of Man-
kind — Morals — Migration.
HITHERTO my remarks have been on that portion
of the great Stoney Region hunted on by the
Nahathaway Indians ; the northern portion of this
region, interior and north of Hudson's Bay to far westward
is hunted upon, and claimed by a distinct race of Indians,
whom, however dispersed, claim their origen and country to
be, from ChurchiU River ^ at it's sortie into the sea ; and since
the building of the Stone Fort, they call the place by the
name of the Stone House.^ Their Native name, by which
they distinguish themselves, is " Dinnae," to some hunting
on a particular tract of country, an adjective is added. " Tza
Dinnae " : Beaver Dinnae. Their southern neighbours, the
Nahathaway's caU them " Chepawyans " (pointed skins), from
the form in which they dry the Beaver skins. By the
Hudson's Bay traders [they are called] " Northern Indians."
^ The Churchill river is known to the Chipewyan Indians as the
Tzan-d^z^ or Metal river, possibly on account of the quantity of iron
and copper derived by them from a ship called Enhiorningen, which was
left there by Jens Munck, after he had wintered in the harbour in the
winter of i6ig-2o, when all but two of his men died of scurvy.
2 Fort Prince of Wales. For an account of this " Stone Fort," see
Samuel Hearne, A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay
to the Northern Ocean, edited by J. B. Tyrrell, pp. 21-2.
CHEPAWYANS 129
Their physiognomy is of an oval form, the skull convex, the
chin pointed, the cheek bones raised, the nose prominent and
sharp, the eyes black and small, forehead high, mouth and
teeth good, hair black, long and lank, and of the men coarse.
The countenance, though not handsome is manly ; [they are]
tall in stature, of spare make, but capable of great fatigue ;
they are a peaceable people, abhoring blood shed ; The
Nahathaways look on them with a sort of contempt, being
themselves too much inclined to war, they consider the
Hunter to be naturally a Warrior; The Dinnae themselves
give some occasion for this, in imitating what ceremonies
they learn from them ; yet treating their women like slaves,
a conduct which the Nahathaways detest ; When quarrelling
the Dinnae never resort to Arms but settle the affair by
wrestling, pulling hair, and twisting each other's necks.
Although to their neighbours they are open to ridicule, yet
not so to the white people, who encourage their peaceable
habits, and themselves justly remark that a fine country, and
plenty to eat, may encourage people to go to war on each
other ; but the fatigue they go through in hunting make
them glad to rest at night. Although they often suffer
hunger, yet the steady frugality they strictly observe,
never allows distress to come on their famiHes. Then-
country has very large, and many lesser Lakes. When the
land is scarce of Deer, or long calms come on, they take to
the Lakes to angle Trout or Pike at which they are very
expert, and although they use our hooks ; for large fish
prefer their own, which are of bone, and a fish caught with
their bone hook does not get loose, as sometimes happens to
our hooks : Whether fish or meat, whatever is not required
is carefully put by for next meal. They carefuUy collect
every article that can be of use to them ; and when they
remove, which they very often do, from place to place the
women are very heavily loaded ; the men with little else
than their gun and their fishing tackle, even a girl of eight
130 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
years will have her share to carry ; while the Boys have some
trifle, or only their Bows and Arrows. This hard usage
makes women scarce among them, and by the time a girl is
twelve years of age, she is given as a Wife to a man of twice
her age, for the young men cannot readily obtain a wife,
and on this account Polygamy is rare among them. The
hardships the Women suffer, induces them, too often to let
the female infants die, as soon as born ; and [they] look upon
it as an act of kindness to them. And when any of us spoke
to a woman who had thus acted ; the common answer was :
" She wished her mother had done the same to herself."
Upon reasoning with the Men, on the severe laborious Hfe of
the women, and the early deaths it occasioned ; and that it
was a disgrace to them ; and how very different the Nahath-
aways treated their women ; they always intimated, they
were an inferior order of mankind, made for the use of the
Men ; the Nahathaways were a different people from, and
they were not guided by, them ; and I found they v/ere too
often regarded as the property of the strongest Man ; until
they have one or more children ; I have been alone with them
for months, and always found them a kind good people, but
their treatment of the Women always made me regard them
as an unmanly race of Men. Whether in distress, or in
plenty, or in whatever state they may be I never saw any
act of a religious tendency ; they make no feasts, have no
dances, nor thanksgivings ; they appear to think every thing
depends on their own abilities and industry, and have no
belief in the greater part of the religious opinions of the
Nahathaways ; from the regular migrations of the water fowl
and the rein deer, they infer something of a Manito takes
care of them, but neither does, nor can, prevent their kilHng
them ; they believe in a future state, and that it is much the
same as in this hfe ; they appear to have no high ideas of it,
but somewhat better than the present ; they dread death as
a great evil, but meet it with calmness and fortitude ; the
CHEPAWYANS 131
wife of the deceased must mourn his loss for a year, her hair
which is cut off and placed beside him when dead, is now
allowed to grow, and she may become a Wife, but there is
no restraint on the Men at the death of their wives ; they
take a wife as soon as they can, and seldom allow a Widow
woman to pass a year of mourning : They do not bury their
dead, but leave them to be devoured ; this they might easily
prevent by covering them with wood, or stones : which is
sometimes done, and sometimes the dead is placed on a
scaffold, but these instances are very rare ; Some of them
have an ancient tradition that a Great Spirit descended on a
rock, took a Dog, tore it to small pieces and scattered it, that
these pieces each become a Man, or a Woman, and that these
Men and Women are their original parents, from whom they
have all come ; and thus the Dog is their common origin ;
On this account they have very few dogs ; frequently several
tents have not a Dog among them ; and they abhor the
Dog Feasts of the Nahathaway's and of the French Canadians ;
the latter regard a fat dog as a luxury, equal to a fat pig :
Their morals are as good as can be expected, they exact
chastity from their wives and seem to practise it themselves ;
they are strictly honest ; and detest a thief ; and are as charit-
able and humane to those in want, as circumstances will allow
them. When the martial Tribes ^ by right of conquest over
the Snake Indians, took possession of the Great Plains the
Nahathaways occupied the lands thus left ; and from the
rigorous clime of sixty one degrees north, went southward to
fifty six degrees north ; the Dinnae, or Chepawyans, in Hke
1 The martial tribes here spoken of are probably the Blackfeet, Bloods,
and Piegan, though I do not know of any evidence to show that they ever
occupied the wooded country north of the Saskatchewan river as here
indicated by Thompson. The Chipewyans, however, have continued to
move southward even in historic times, for about the time Thompson
first reached Churchill they occupied the Barren Lands west of Hudson
Bay as far north as Chesterfield Inlet, while at the present time they have
retired southward to the edge of the woods, and their old haunts along the
Kazan river are occupied by Eskimo.
132 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
manner occupied the country down to the last named Lati-
tude, and westward by the Peace River to the Rocky
Mountains ; and have thus quietly extended themselves from
the arctic regions to their present boundary, and will con-
tinue to press to the southward as far as the Nahathaways
will permit.
CHAPTER VIII
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA
Receive permission to explore the unknown country to the North-
westward — Fairford House — Want of Men — Two Chepa-
wyan Companions — The start — Rein Deer River — Rein
Deer Lake — Trading Post — Manito Lake — Two Outlets —
Character of Shores of Manito Lake — Black River —
Hatchet Lake — Manito Falls — Second Black Falls — Atha-
basca Lake — Hardships of the trip — Wreck — Destitute
condition — Safe at last — Reach Fairford House.
HAVING now given a sketch of the people among
whom I am about to travel ; I have to return back
a few years from my wintering place in Reed Lake,
where I brought together that part of the Great Stony Region,
and now enter on the northern part of this Region hunted
on by the Natives I have described.
Having requested permission of M"^ Joseph Colen, the
Resident at York Factory, to explore the country north
westward from the junction of the Rein Deer's River with
the Missinippe (Great Waters) to the east end of the Atha-
basca Lake a country then wholly unknown,^ I proceeded to
Fairford House,^ for we must give titles to our Log Huts,
* The journey here described had a larger significance than that here
given to it by Thompson, for it was part of a scheme which he had been
urging on the Hudson's Bay Company for some years to push westward
and participate with the North-West Company in the trade of the Mac-
kenzie river valley. See Introduction, pp. xxxiv.-xxxix.
* Fairford House was situated on the bank of the Churchill (or Mis-
sinipi) river, a mile below the mouth of Reindeer (or Deer) river, in
latitude 53* 33' 28" N., longitude 103° 12' W, It was built by Malcolm
Ross in Tygs, but seems to have been abandoned in 1796 in favour of
133
134 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
where M"^ Malcolm Ross ^ had wintered, but not a single man
could be spared from the trade in furrs to accompany me,
and with great difficulty the Hudson's Bay Company then
procured Men to keep up the few interior Trading Houses
they then had ; for the War which raged between England
and France drained the Orkney Islands of all the Men, that
were fit for the Navy, or the Army ; and only those refused
were obtained for the furr trade : There is always a Canoe
with three steady men and a native woman waiting the
arrival of the annual Ship from England to carry the Letters
and Instructions of the Company to the interior country
trading houses ; but very few men came out with her for the
trade, and those few were only five feet five inches and under ;
a M" James Spence was in charge of the Canoe, and his Indian
Bedford House on the west side of Reindeer lake. It was doubtless
named after the village of Fairford in Gloucestershire, though on whose
account is not known.
1 Malcolm Ross was a Scotsman who had entered the service of the
Hudson's Bay Company, and had been among those first sent inland to
the Saskatchewan valley. After the Hudson's Bay Company had been
sending parties and supplies inland from York Factory for a number of
years it became anxious to learn if a route could be opened up from
Churchill directly up the Churchill river to its central trading post at
Cumberland House, and in 1786 Ross was sent from Churchill to try
to discover such a route. He succeeded in accomplishing the journey,
probably by the Little Churchill river, Split lake, and Grass river, but
reported that it was an exceedingly difficult one of no commercial value.
The following year he returned to York, and, when a couple of years later
the Company wished to send Philip Turnor westward as far as Lake
Athabaska to make a survey of that lake and determine its position,
Ross was sent with him to look after his supplies. From that time on-
ward Ross's great object appears to have been to induce the Hudson's
Bay Company to go into the Athabaska country and establish trading
posts there, but in this he was not successful. In 1798 he visited England,
probably with the object of urging on the directors of the Company
more active measures for securing the Athabaska trade, and the following
year he returned to the western country, but shortly after his arrival in
Hudson Bay he died at Churchill. It was not until three years after his
death, in 1802, that Peter Fidler was able to establish the first trading
post of the Hudson's Bay Company on Lake Athabaska, on the site of the
present Fort Chipewyan.
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 135
wife looking steadily at the Men, and then at her husband ;
at length said, James have you not always told me, that the
people in your country are as numerous as the leaves on the
trees, how can you speak such a falsehood, do not we all see
plainly that the very last of them is come, if there were any
more would these dwarfs have come here. This appeared a
home truth, and James Spence had to be silent. Finding
that I could have no white man to accompany me somewhat
damped my ardor, but my curiosity to see unknown countries
prevailed, and a few Chepawyans happening to be there ;
and had traded their few furrs I engaged two young men of
them to accompany me ; both of them had hunted for two
winters over the country we were to explore, but had never
been on the Rivers and Lakes in summer. Their only practice
in canoes had been, on a calm day to watch for the Deer
taking refuge in the Lakes from the flies, and for Otters and
Fowls, which gave them no experience of the currents and
rapids of Rivers ; yet such as they were, I was obhged to
take them ; they were both unmarried young men ; One of
them named Kozdaw,^ was of a powerful, active, make ; gay,
thoughtless, and ready for every kind of service : would
cHmb the trees, and brave the Eagles in their nests : yet
under aU this wildness was a kind and faithful heart. The
other from his hard name, which I could not pronounce, I
named Paddy, he was of a slender form, thoughtful, of a mild
disposition ; As nothing whatever was ready for us, we had
to go into the Forests for all the materials to make a Canoe ;
of seventeen feet in length by thirty inches on the middle bar.
This House though well situated for trade ; had but a
poor fishery with three Nets, each of fifty fathoms in length,
we could barely maintain ourselves, the fish caught were
White Fish, Pike and Carp, with a few Pickerel, none of
^ When I surveyed the Black river in the summer of 1892, I gave the
name of this Indian companion of Thompson to one of the smaller lakes
on the stream.
136 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
them very good. Fairford House is in Latitude 55°- 33'- 28"
North, and Longitude 103°. 9'. 52" West of Greenwich, on
the banks of the Missinippe (Great Waters)^ so called from
the spreading of it's waters. It's southern head is the Beaver
River from the Beaver Lake not far from the east foot of the
Mountains, which, on entering the chain of Lakes, and the
land of Rocks, spreads into very irregular forms of Lakes,
which at distances are crossed by Dams of rock, and by
channels falls into the same rude Lakes, to within one hundred
miles of Churchill Factory, having for this last distance, the
regular form of a River with many Rapids and Falls to within
about ten miles of the sea where it meets the tide waters.
The whole of the above distance from the valley of the chain
of Lakes to the sea, is a poor country for Deer and the furr
bearing animals ; and also for fish ; There are some very
good fisheries, but they are in the deep Lakes of this Region
wholly independent of the Missinippe, though the Streams
from them are discharged into it.
Early on the tenth day of June 1796 we were ready, our
outfit consisted of one fowling gun ; forty balls, five pounds of
shot, three flints and five pounds of powder, one Net of
thirty fathoms ; one small Axe, a small Tent of grey cotton ;
with a few trifles to trade provisions, as beads, brass rings
and awls, of which we had little hopes ; our chief dependence
next to good Providence, was on our Net and Gun.
The sortie of the Rein Deer's River ; ^ which is the great
^ Thompson constantly used the name Missinipi for the river now
known throughout most of its length as the Churchill, though the longest
of its upper branches is still known as Beaver river. In 1 798 he surveyed
this river to its source near Lake La Biche (or Red Deer lake), where he
built a trading post and spent the winter.
* Reindeer river is a beautiful clear stream draining the waters of
Reindeer lake southward into the Churchill river. At the confluence
the waters of the two streams are very distinct, that of Reindeer
river being beautifully clear and white in contrast to the dark brownish
water of the Churchill river. The river has a length of seventy miles,
in which distance it is obstructed by four rapids over rocky barriers of
granite.
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 137
northern branch of Churchill River is about one mile above
Fairford House ; and up this stream we proceeded in a north
direction for sixty four miles to the Rein Deer's Lake ;
Lat'''= 56 . 20 . 22 Long'** 103 . 18 . 47. The River is a fine deep
stream, of about three hundred yards in width, having five
falls and the same number of Carrying Places ; the FaUs
have a descent of four to fourteen feet, with only one rapid.
It's current is moderate from one to two miles p"" hour, and
forms several small Lakes. The banks are of sloping high
rocks, with several sandy bays ; the woods of small Birch,
Aspin, and Pines, growing on the rocks with very little soil ;
in many places none whatever : the Trees supported each
other by the roots being interlaced in the same manner as
the Trees are supported on the frozen lands of Hudson's
Bay which never thaw ; and both are kept moist in summer by
being covered with wet moss.
The Natives are frequently very careless in putting out
the fires they make, and a high wind kindles it among the
Pines always ready to catch fire ; and [they] burn until stopped
by some large swamp or lake ; which makes many miles of
the country appear very unsightly, and destroys many animals
and birds especially the grouse, who do not appear to know
how to save themselves, but all this devastation is nothing
to the Indian, his country is large.
We proceeded along the west side of the Lake, in a direc-
tion of due North, for one hundred and eight miles to a Point
of tolerable good Pines, the best we had seen, and on which,
late in Autumn we built a trading House. Latitude 57 . 23 . N.
Longitude 102 . 59 W.
The whole distance we have passed has a rocky barren
appearance ; the woods small and stunted ; in several places
the fire had passed. In the above distance the Paint River
falls in, a considerable stream from the westward ; and also
a few Brooks. The water is clear and deep, and the Lake
is studded with Islands of rock, and dwarf Pines cover them.
138 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
We proceeded up the Rivulet which we found shoal,
with many rapids, and soon led us to Ponds and Brooks,
with several Carrying Places, which connected them together
for fifty miles, the last of which placed us on the banks of the
Manito Lake. Latitude 57.47.38 N. Longitude 103. 17.12 W.
The whole of this route can be passed in the open season
only by small Canoes ; the country as usual poor and rocky ;
Hitherto we had not met with a single Native, and our Gun
and Net gave us but short allowance ; This Route is practised
by the Natives to avoid the great length of the Rein Deer's
and Manito Lakes, and the crossing of the great Bays of these
Lakes, which would be dangerous to their small Canoes.
This great Lake is called Manito^ (supernatural) from it's
sending out two Rivers, each in a different direction ; from
it's east side a bold Stream runs southward and enters the
Rein Deers Lake on it's east side ; and from the west side of
the Manito Lake, it sends out the Black River, which runs
westward into the east end of the Athabasca Lake ; which
is perhaps without a parallel in the world. Some have argued
that such a Lake must soon be drained of its water ; they
forget that it is the quantity of water that runs off, that
drains a Lake ; and were the two Rivers that now flow in
opposite directions made to be one River in a single direction,
the effect on the Lake would be the same Add to this, the
head of a River flowing out of a Lake is a kind of a Dam,
and can only operate on the Lake in proportion to the depth
to the bottom ; which in general is several hundred feet
* On the present maps of Canada it is Wollaston lake. Thompson
is quite correct in his statement that this lake has two outlets, which are
of about equal size, one of which flows to the Mackenzie river and the
other to the Churchill. The former he descended to Lake Athabaska,
while the latter I surveyed in part in 1 894 and named the Cochrane river.
The lake has an area of 900 square miles, and its water, like that of Rein-
deer lake, is very clear and pure, as there is no soluble rock or mud on
its shores. The pines here spoken of, and in fact throughout this narra-
tive, are spruce, either black or white. Throughout all the northern
country spruce trees are still spoken of as pines.
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 139
below this bottom of the head of the River ; and were the
River to drain the Lake to this level, the River would cease
to flow but the Lake would still contain a great body of water.
The last fifty miles had been over a low rocky, swampy-
country, and tormented with myriads of Musketoes ; we were
now on the banks of the Manito Lake, all around which, as
far as the eye could see, were bold shores, the land rising
several hundred feet in bold swells, all crowned with Forests
of Pines ; in the Lake were several fine Isles of a rude conical
form, equally well clothed with Woods. I was highly pleased
with this grand scenery ; but soon found the apparent fine
forests to be an illusion, they were only dwarf Pines growing
on the rocks ; and held together by their roots being twisted
with each other. On our route, seeing a fine Isle, which
appeared a perfect cone of about sixty feet in height, appar-
ently remarkably well wooded to the very top of the cone ;
I went to it, my companions saying it was lost time ; on
landing, we walked through the apparent fine forest, with our
heads clear above aU the trees, the tallest only came to our
chins ; While we were thus amusing ourselves, the Wind
arose and detained us until near sunset. To while away the
time, we amused ourselves with undoing the roots of these
shrub Pines for about twenty feet on each side ; when the
whole sHd down the steep rock into the Lake, making a float-
ing Isle of an area of four hundred feet ; and so well the
fibres of the roots were bound together, that when it came
to where the waves were running high, it held together, not
a piece separated and thus [it] drifted out of our sight. We
set loose a second islet of about the same area ; then a third,
and a fourth islet, all floated away in the same manner : On
the Isle, the roots of these small pines were covered with a
compact moss of a yellow color, about two inches thick.
The mould on the rock under these pines, was very black
and rich, but so scant, that had the area of four hundred feet
been clean swept, it would not have filled a bushel measure.
140 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
perhaps the produce of centuries. This Isle was a steep cone,
the sixteen hundred square feet we uncovered, showed the
rock to be as smooth as a file, and no where rougher than a
rasp ; and had it been bare it would have been difficult of
ascent ; it was about two miles from other land ; then how
came these pines to grow upon it ; they bare no cones, nor
seeds and no birds feed on them ; These wild northern
countries produce questions, difficult to answer.
t After coasting the west side of this Lake for Eighty miles
Ji/v/e put up on the evening of the twenty third of June at the
NC!j> head of the Black River ; which flows out of this Lake and
0^*1' finally discharges itself into the east end of the Athabasca
- ^ ..■■■.. Lake, which I found to be in Latitude 50° . 27' . 55" North ;
and in Longitude 103°. 27'. i'' West of Greenwich Variation
15° East. What I afterwards learned of the Indians on the
geography of the Manito Lake confirmed my opinions of it ;
By their information this Lake is of very great extent ; the
eighty miles we coasted they counted as nothing ; they say
that none of them has seen its northern extent, and of the
east side, except the southern part. The deep, long rolling
waves in a gale of wind, equal to any I have seen in Lake
Superior, showed a very deep Lake and that the roll of the
waves came from a great distance.
It was always my intention to have fuUy surveyed this
and the Rein Deer's Lake, but the sad misfortune which
happened in the lower part of the Black River, made me
thankfull to save our hves. That these countries are un-
known, even to the natives, can excite no surprise ; their
canoes are small and when loaded with their Wives, Children,
and Baggage, are only fit for calm water, which is seldom seen
on these Lakes ; The east side of these two Lakes, have a
range of full six hundred miles, on which there are no Woods,^
* This would appear to refer to the Barren Grounds, some distance to
the north of Reindeer and Manitou lakes, rather than the country to
the east of them, for this latter country is within the forest area, and
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 141
all is Rock and Moss ; on these barren lands, in the open
season the Rein Deer are numerous ; they have food in
abundance, and the constant cold nights puts down the flies.
The Natives, when they hunt on the North East parts of
the Rein Deer's Lake, cannot stay long ; the Moss, when
dry, makes a tolerable fire ; but in wet weather, which often
happens, it holds the rain hke a sponge, and cannot be made
to burn ; this want of fire often obliges them to eat the meat
raw, and also the fish ; the latter I have seen them by
choice ; especially the pike, and a Trout is no sooner caught
than the eyes are scooped out and swallowed whole, as most
delicious morsels.
Whatever Deer they may kill, they cannot dry the meat ;
and as soon as they have eaten plentifully and procured as
many skins as they can carry, they leave these lands of Moss,
for those of Woods where they can have a comfortable fire,
and get poles of pine wood to pitch their Tents for shelter.
The Natives told me, when enquiring of the country to
the eastward of the Manito Lake ; that two of them had
been two day's journey direct eastward of the Lake, and saw
nothing of woods, but everywhere rock and moss, with small
Lakes, in which the Ducks were taking care of their young,
and no other animal than a few herds of Rein Deer, and Musk
Oxen ; ^ and it seems such is all the country between these
great Lakes and Churchill River Factory and far to the
northward. The Rein Deer's Lake^ contains an area of 18,400
though the trees are mostly small, they are there in greater or less
abundance. The east shore of Reindeer lake, along which I travelled in
1894, was found to be all fairly well wooded.
* Ovibos moschatus (Zimmerman). [E. A. P.]
* Reindeer lake is one of the most picturesque of the many large
lakes of northern Canada, with its shores of low rounded hills of granite,
and its many rocky islands rising out of clear green water. It has an
area of 2,400 square miles, a greatest length of 140 miles, and a greatest
width of 35 miles, but on account of the irregularity of its shore line, and
the great number of islands in it, no large part of the lake can be seen
from any one place. The water is remarkably pure, an analysis made
some years ago showing it to be one of the purest lake waters in the world.
142 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
square miles : and the Manito Lake has an area of not less
than about 30,000 square miles : From the head of the Black
River to Churchill Factory is 339 statute miles, including
the width of the Manito Lake, which may be reckoned at
eighty miles, or more. It is a pity the Hudsons Bay Company
do not have these countries explored ; by their charter they
hold these extensive countries to the exclusion of all other
persons.
By civiHsed men, especially those of the United States,
who have a mortal antipathy to the North American Indian ;
or, as he is now called the, " Red Man " ; it is confidently
predicted, that the Red Man, must soon cease to exist, and
give place to the White Man ; this is true of aU the lands
formerly possessed by the Red Man, that the White Man has
thought it worth his while to seize by fraud or force ; but
the Stony Region is an immense extent of country, on which
the White Man cannot live ; except by hunting, which he
will not submit to. Here then is an immense tract of country
which the Supreme Being, the Lord of the whole Earth, has
given to the Deer, and other wild animals ; and to the Red
Man forever, here, as his fathers of many centuries past have
done, he may roam, free as the wind ; but this wandering
life, and the poverty of the country, prevents the labors of
the Missionary to teach them the sacred truths of Christianity.
On the 25*'' day of June we descended the Black River ^
1 Black or Stone river flows westward from Wollaston lake into the
east end of Lake Athabaska, at first through quiet pools, then over rocky
granite ridges, and afterwards over a bed of rough boulders and pebbles
of sandstone, where the water sometimes contracts into a narrow swift
stream and then spreads out and almost loses itself among the stones.
Such is its character until it flows into Black lake, but below Black lake
it tumbles in two wild cascades with a combined height of 300 feet to the
level of Lake Athabaska. Past these two falls the Indians from time
immemorial have had well beaten paths or portages, respectively two and
three and a half miles in length. As yet comparatively few white men
have travelled this river, the list as far as known being as follows : David
Thompson (1796) ; Peter Fidler (1807 ?) ; A. S. Cochrane (1881) ; J. B.
Tyrrell (1892 and 1893).
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 143
for nine miles to the Hatchet Lake.^ The River flows between
two hills, in a valley with coarse grass on each side ; it is about
twenty yards in width, and five feet in depth, and moderate
current. The Hatchet Lake, has an area of about three
hundred square miles, the banks rise to about three hundred
feet apparently well wooded with Pines, but very few are
above twenty feet in height, and full of branches. The whole
is a wretched country of soHtude, which is broken only by
the large GuU and the Loons. The first twelve miles of the
River have several strong rapids and two carrying places, one
of 204, the other of 298 yards. By observations the Lati-
tude was 58°. 44'. 35" Longitude 103°. 56'. 28'' West near
the north end of the Black Lake,^ which is a small Lake.
The River had now increased it's water by the addition
of the Porcupine and Trout Rivers, and several Brooks ; it
had also a greater descent ; In it's course of One hundred
and fifty three miles from the above place of observation in
the Black Lake, it meets with, and forms, many small Lakes ;
and collects their waters to form a Stream of about one, to
two, hundred yards in width : it's bottom is sand and pebbles,
or rude stones and small rocks, smoothed by the water ; on
a bed of Limestone, which is the rock of the country ; its
course is sinuous, from the many hills it meets, and runs
round in it's passage ; it's current is strong, with many
rapids, some of them one mile in length : it has four falls.
Three of these are about half way down the River ; the fourth
fall is the end of a series of rapids, cutting through a high
hill ; at length the banks become perpendicular, and the
river falls eight feet, the carrying place is six hundred yards
in length. For half a mile further the current is very swift ;
it is then for one hundred and eighteen yards, compressed in
^ Hatchet lake, probably so called by Thompson himself, is a small
lake on the Black river with an area of about 60 square miles.
* This is a very small expansion of the Stone or Black river, which is
now known as Kosdaw lake.
144 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
a narrow channel of rock of only twelve yards in width. At
the end of this channel a bold perpendicular sided point of
limestone rock projects at right angles to the course of the
river, against which the rapid current rushes and appears
driven back with such force that the whole river seems as if
turned up from it's bottom. It boils, foams and every drop
is white ; part of the water is driven down a precipice of
twenty feet descent ; the greater part rushes through the
point of rock and disappears for two hundred yards ; then
issues out in boiHng whirlpools. The dashing of the water
against the rocks, the deep roar of the torrent, the hollow
sound of the fall, with the surrounding high, dark frowning
hills form a scenery grand and awful, and it is well named
the Manito Fall. While the Nahathaways possessed the
country, they made offerings to it, and thought it the resi-
dence of a Manito ; they have retired to milder cHmates ;
and the Chepawyans have taken their place who make no
offerings to anything ; but my companions were so awe
struck, that the one gave a ring, and the other a bit of
tobacco. They had heard of this Fall, but never saw it before.
The second Black Lake ^ is a fine sheet of water it's length
about thirty miles in a west direction, it's breadth one to six
miles ; in the east end there are five small isles and a large
Island near the north shore. The north side of the Lake is a
high hill, in some places abrupt cliffs of rock ; the south side
^ This lake, which is still known as Black lake, lies at the junction of
the Stone river from the east, the Cree river from the south, and the
Chipman river from the north. It has a greatest length of 41 miles, a
greatest width of 9 miles, a total area of 200 square miles, and an eleva-
tion of 1000 feet above the sea. Its name seems to have been given to
it by David Thompson, probably on account of the dark hills of Norite
which form its north-western shore. By the Chipewyan Indians of Lake
Athabaska it is called Dess-da-tara-tua, or, " The Mouths of Three Rivers
Lake," alluding to the mouths of Cree, Stone, and Chipman rivers,
which empty into it. Its northern shore is steep and rocky, being com-
posed of granite or similar rocks, while its southern shore is low and sandy,
and a great sand plain stretches away to the south of it.
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 145
is more pleasing, it's fine sandy beaches, the banks with small
Aspins and Birch in full leaf ; the ground firm and dry,
covered with Bear's Berries,^ the leaf of which is mixed with
tobacco for smoking, the interior rising by easy ascents, and
apparently well wooded formed a pleasing landscape to us,
who had so long been accustomed to rude scenery ; it is the
only place which had an appearance of being fit for cultiva-
tion ; but it was appearance only ; the woods were small,
even the Pines rarely rose to the height of twenty feet ; and
the soil was too sandy. The area of this Lake may be about
one hundred and twenty miles. This Lake appears to be the
principal haunts of the species of Deer which I have already
described ; and which I beUeve to be yet a nondescript.
The Nahathaways, who pay great attention to distinguish
every species of Beast and Bird from each, do not class them
with the Rein Deer, and call them Mahthe Moosewah.'^ (the
Ugly Moose). This is the only Lake in which I have seen
them, and the Natives say they are not numerous, and are
confined to this Lake and its environs ; A civiUzed man may
never travel this way again ; there is nothing to tempt him ;
a rude barren country that has neither provisions nor furrs,
and there are no woods of which he could build a warm hut ;
and at best his fuel, of which a large quantity is required,
could be only of small poles, which would burn away, almost
as fast as he could cut them. In the winter the Natives do
not frequent these countries but hunt to the westward.
On the North side, the Black River rushes through a
low mountain in a long cataract, on the south side is a carrying
place of 5560 yards of open woods, the ground level and sandy,
from hence we went three miles to a heavy Fall in several
precipices of full forty feet. The carrying place is one mile
in length, the banks high and steep, and the path bad from
much fallen wood, and rocky ground, at the end of which
* Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
2 Probably a large form of Woodland Caribou. See note, p. 102.
K
146 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
we had to descend a high steep bank of loose earth and
gravel : one fourth of a mile lower was another fall, and
carrying place of half a mile, we then proceeded eight miles
to a long heavy rapid, six miles farther the Black River enters
the east end of the Athabasca Lake,^ the end of our journey
in Latitude 50°. 16'. 22" N. Longitude 105°. 26' West on the
2°*^ of July. ''''This great Lake had been surveyed by M'
Philip Turnor^ in 1791. He had marked and lopped a pine
tree at which we passed the night. From the Manito to the
^ Lake Athabaska is a long and comparatively narrow sheet of water,
extending westward from the mouth of Black river to where the Atha-
baska-Mackenzie river drains the country towards the north. It lies in
the bottom of a great valley excavated along the line of contact of the
Archaean granites, etc., to the north, and the undisturbed Athabaska
sandstone to the south. On its south side is a great sandy plain, rising
at its east end to a height of 500 feet above the lake, and gradually sloping
westward towards the Athabaska-Mackenzie valley. It has a greatest
length of 195 miles, a greatest width of 35 miles, a shore line of 425 miles,
an area of 2,850 square miles, and an altitude of 690 feet above the sea.
2 Comparatively little is as yet known of Philip Tumor. The first
published reference to him that I can find is where Henry Roberts, in giving
the authorities for his map (Cook's Third Voyage, Introduction, p. Ixxi),
refers to " the discoveries from York to Cumberland and Hudson House
(this last is the most western settlement belonging to the Company),
extending to Lake Winnipeg, from the draft of Mr. Philip Turner, cor-
rected by astronomical observations." "The Albany and Moose Rivers
to Gloucester House and to Lake Abbitibbe and Superior," says Roberts,
" are also drawn from a map of Mr. Turner's, adjusted by observations
for the longitudes." From Roberts's map, it appears that Tumor had
gone inland from York Factory by the Nelson and Grass rivers, and had
returned by Lake Winnipeg and the Hayes river route, or vice versa, for
these are the only routes indicated. Neither the Churchill river nor the
Nelson river between Split lake and Lake Winnipeg is shown on this map.
These journeys inland were probably first made in company with Samuel
Hearne, when, in 1774, he went from York Factory, and established Cum-
berland House on Pine Island lake, an enlargement of the Saskatchewan
river.
In 1776, according to Thompson, Turnor ascended the Saskatchewan
river from Cumberland House, and built Hudson House, on the North
Saskatchewan river, a short distance above the present site of Prince
Albert.
In 1779 Tumor was at Severn Factory, under Matthew Cocking ; and
on September 28 of that year he left there in the sloop Severn, of which
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 147
Athabasca Lake, by the course of the Black River, and it's
Lakes is 162 miles, of varied country, but the further west-
ward the better. And the bold, high, sloping, woody hills of
the Athabasca Lake had something soft and pleasing. This
journey was attended with much danger, toil and suffering,
for my guide knew nothing of the river, it's rapids and falls,
haveing merely crossed it in places in hunting. We were
always naked below the belt, on account of the rapids, from
the rocks, shoals, and other obstructions we had to hand them,
that is, we were in the water, with our hands grasping the
John Tumor, his brother, was master, and arrived at Moose Factory on
October 21.
On December 15, he left Moose for Albany, where he remained with
Thomas Hutchins throughout the winter and until the following September.
During this time he probably made his survey of the Albany river up to
Gloucester House on Washi lake, and probably also of the Kenogami and
Kabinakagami rivers, which form together a southern branch of the
Albany river, to " Capoonacaumistic " (Kabinakagami) lake and Lake
Superior. On December 19, 1780, E. Jarvis, then in charge at Moose, sent
him back to Albany for some trading supplies. He returned on January 12,
1 781, having made on the way a survey of the intervening portion of the
coast of Hudson Bay. On May 11, he set out on a trip by canoe up the
Moose and Missinaibi rivers, past Wappiscoggamy House (Old Brunswick
House) to Missinaibi lake and thence to Lake Superior at Michipicoten
Harbour. On July 13, he was again back at Moose.
In the summer of 1782 he made a survey of Lake Abitibi, After
completing this survey, he was appointed to take charge of Brunswick
House on the Missinaibi river; and it is recorded that in 1783 he was
too ill to descend the river to Moose Factory, and was consequently unable
to attend the meeting of the Council there. For several years after this,
he remained at Brunswick House ; then he descended to Moose Factory,
where he assumed the position of second in charge.
On September 9, 1787, he sailed for England in the sloop Beaver. He
appears to have returned to York Factory in 1 789, and from there to have
proceeded to Cumberland House. In this journey he was accompanied
by Peter Fidler, then a young man of twenty years of age, while David
Thompson came down from the west to join them. Tumor probably
spent the next two winters at Cumberland House. During this time he
taught David Thompson and Peter Fidler the principles of geography
and the methods of surveying, and so laid the foundation of the know-
ledge of much of the geography of north-western America.
In the spring of 1791, Tumor, accompanied by Malcolm Ross, left
Cumberland House for Lake Athabaska. On June i, at Bufifalo lake.
148 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
canoe, and leading it down the rapids. The bed of the river
is of rough or round loose stones, and gravel, our bare feet
became so sore that we descended several rough rapids at
great risque of our lives. On the 25''' June we came to
three tents of Chepawyan Indians of iive families ; they were
clean, comfortable, and everything in good order. As usual,
they received us in a hospitable manner, we put up for the
night, and staid next day until past Noon to refresh ourselves
and I obtained an observation for Latitude. They were hunt-
ing and Hving on the large species of Deer, the Mahthe
Moose, the meat was fat and good, they told me the habits
of this species are utterly different from the common wander-
ing Rein Deer, it's meat far superior, and in size nearly twice
that of the common Deer, their eyesight much better, and
the hunting of them almost as difficult as that of the Moose
Deer, of which there are none in these parts.
On our return, about half way up the black river, we came
to one of the falls, with a strong rapid both above and below
it, we had a carrying place of 200 yards, we then attempted
the strong current above the fall, they were to track the
canoe up by a Hne, walking on shore, while I steered it, when
they had proceeded about eighty yards, they came to a
he met Alexander Mackenzie going to England to study astronomy and
geology, in order that he might be better prepared to make a proper
survey of the route which he intended to explore from Lake Athabaska
to the Pacific ocean. Alexander Mackenzie gave Tumor a letter to his
cousin, Roderick Mackenzie, at Lake Athabaska, asking him to show-
Tumor the fullest hospitality ; but had he appreciated fully the character
of the man whom he had thus casually met in a canoe on the Churchill
river, he might possibly have turned back, and studied under him. Tumor
made a survey of Lake Athabaska, and doubtless also of the route from
Cumberland House to it. The winter of 1791-92 he spent with Roderick
Mackenzie at Fort Chipewyan ; and the following year he apparently
returned to England.
As late as 1795 he was in communication with the directors of the
Hudson's Bay Company in London, but that is the last that has been
learned of him.
Whatever else may become known of him. Tumor's greatest distinction
will always be that he was Thompson's tutor.
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 149
Birch Tree, growing at the edge of the water, and there
stood and disputed between themselves on which side of the
tree the tracking line should pass. I called to them to go
on, they could not hear me for the noise of the fall, I then
waved mv hand for them to proceed, meanwhile the current
was drifting me out, and having only one hand to guide the
canoe, the Indians standing still, the canoe took a sheer across
the current, to prevent the canoe upsetting, I waved my
hand to them to let go the line and leave me to my fate,
which they obeyed. I sprang to the bow of the canoe took
out my clasp knife, cut the line from the canoe and put the
knife in my pocket, by this time I was on the head of the
fall, all I could do was to place the canoe to go down bow
foremost, in an instant the canoe was precipitated down the
fall (twelve feet), and buried un(^er the waves, I was struck
out of the canoe, and when I arose among the waves, the
canoe came on me and buried [me] beneath it, to raise myself
I struck my feet against the rough bottom and came up close
to the canoe which I grasped, and being now on shoal water,
I was able to conduct the canoe to the shore. My two com-
panions ran down the beach to my assistance ; nothing re-
mained in the canoe but an axe, a small tent of grey cotton,
and my gun : also a pewter basin. When the canoe was
hauled on shore I had to lay down on the rocks, wounded,
bruised, and exhausted by my exertions. The Indians went
down along the shore, and in half an hours time returned
with my box, Hned with cork, containing my Sextant and a
few instruments, and papers of the survey Maps &c. and our
three paddles. We had no time to lose, my all was my shirt
and a thin linen vest, my companions were in the same
condition, we divided the small tent into three pieces to
wrap round ourselves, as a defence against the flies in the
day, and something to keep us from the cold at night, for the
nights are always cold. On rising from my rocky bed, I
perceived much blood at my left foot, on looking at it, I
150 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
found the flesh of my foot, from the heel to near the toes
torn away, this was done when I struck my feet against the
rough bottom to rise above the waves of the fall of water.
A bit of my share of the tent bound the wound, and thus
barefooted I had to walk over the carrying places with their
rude stones and banks. The Indians went to the woods and
procured Gum of the Pines to repair the canoe, when they
returned, the question was how to make a fire, we had neither
steel, nor flint, I pointed to the gun from which we took
the flint. I then produced my pocket knife with it's steel
blade, if I had drawn a ghost out of my pocket it would not
more have surprized them, they whispered to each other,
how avaricious a white man must be, who rushing on death
takes care of his Httle knife, this was often related to other
Indians who all made the same remark. I said to them if I
had not saved my Httle knife how could we make a fire, you
fools go to the Birch Trees and get some touchwood, which
they soon brought, a fire was made, we repaired our canoe,
and carried all above the Fall and the rapid, they carried the
canoe, my share was the gun, axe, and pewter basin ; and
Sextant Box. Late in the evening we made a fire and warmed
ourselves. It was now our destitute condition stared us in
the face, a long journey through a barren country, without
provisions, or the means of obtaining any, almost naked, and
suffering from the weather, all before us was very dark, but
I had hopes that the Supreme Being through our great
Redeemer to whom I made my short prayers morning and
evening would find some way to preserve us ; on the second
day, in the afternoon we came on a small lake of the river,
and in a grassy bay we saw two large GuUs hovering, this
lead us to think they were taking care of their young, we went,
and found three young gulls, which we put in the canoe, it
may here be remarked, the Gull cannot dive, he is too Hght ;
these gulls gave us but a Httle meat. They had not four
ounces of meat on them. It appeared to sharpen hunger.
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 151
The next day as we proceeded, I remembered an Eagles
Nest on the banks of a small Lake before us. I enquired of
my companions if the young eagles could fly, they said, they
are now large but cannot yet fly, why do you enquire, I said,
do you not remember the Eagle's Nest on a Lake before us,
we shall be there by mid day, and get the young eagles for
supper, accordingly we came on the Lake and went to the
Eagles Nest, it was about sixteen feet from the ground, in
the spreading branches of a Birch tree, the old ones were
absent, but Kozdaw was barely at the nest before they arrived,
and Paddy and myself, with shouts and pelting them with
stones, with difficulty prevented the Eagles ^ from attacking
Kozdaw, he soon threw the two young eagles down to us,
they placed themselves on their backs, and with beak and
claws fought for their lives, when apparently dead, Kozdaw
incautiously laid hold of one of them, who immediately
struck the claws of one foot deep into his arm above the
wrist. So firm were the claws in his arm, I had to cut off
the leg at the first joint above the claws, even then when we
took out a claw, it closed in again, and we had to put bits of
wood under each claw until we got the whole out.
We continued our journey to the evening, when as usual
we put ashore, and made a fire, on opening the young eagles
their insides appeared a mass of yellow fat, which we collected,
and with the meat, divided into three equal portions : Paddy
and myself eat only the inside fat, reserving the meat for
next day, but we noticed Kozdaw, roasting the meat ; and
oihng himself with the fat : in the night we were both
awakened by a violent dysentry from the effects of the eagles
fat, Kozdaw now told us that such was always the effects of
the inside fat of the fishing Eagle (the bald headed) and also
of most birds of prey that Hve on fish, Paddy bitterly re-
proached him for allowing us to eat it, we had to march all
day in this state, in the evening, I filled the pewter basin
1 Haliceetus I. alascanus Townsend. [E. A. P.]
152 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
with Labrador Tea/ and by means of hot stones made a
strong infusion, drank it as hot as I could, which very much
relieved me. Paddy did the same with like effect. We con-
tinued our voyage day after day, subsisting on berries, mostly
the crowberry, which grows on the ground ; and is not
nutritious. To the sixteenth of July ; both Paddy and
myself were now like skeletons, the effects of hunger, and
dysentry from cold nights, and so weak, that we thought it
useless to go any further but die where we were. Kozdaw
now burst out into tears, upon which we told him that he
was yet strong, as he had not suffered from disease. He re-
plied, if both of you die, I am sure to be killed, for everyone
will believe that I have killed you both, the white men will
revenge your death on me, and the Indians will do the same
for him ; I told him to get some thin white birch rind, and
I would give him a writing, which he did, with charcoal I
wrote a short account of our situation, which I gave him,
upon which he said now I am safe. However we got into
the canoe, and proceeded slowly, we were very weak, when
thank God, in the afternoon we came to two tents of Chepa-
wyans, who pitied our wretched condition ; they gave us
broth, but would allow us no meat until the next day : I
procured some provisions, a flint and nine rounds of
ammunition, and a pair of shoes for each of us on credit, to
be paid for when they came to trade, also an old kettle ; we
now proceeded on our journey with thanks to God, and
cheerful hearts. We killed two Swans, and without any
accident on the 21^' July arrived at Fairford House from
whence we commenced our Journey. From this time to the
26"" August, our time was spent in fishing and hunting, and
with all our exertions we could barely maintain ourselves.
During this time seventeen Loons got entangled in the Nets,
a few were drowned, but the greater part alive : the Loon
is at all times a fierce bird, and all these with beak and claws
1. Ledum green landicmn CEder. [E. A. P.]
TRIP TO LAKE ATHABASCA 153
fought to the last gasp. I have often taken one, out of the
Net, aHve and placed it in the yard, and set the dogs on it,
but it fought so fiercely, screaming all the time, the dogs
would not attack it. They Hve wholly on fish, which gives
their flesh so strong a taste that few can eat them, especially
if they feed on trout, those that live on Carp, White Fish,
Pickerel and Pike have a better taste, but always bad ; they
lay only two, or three eggs, which when boiled are of a yellowish
color, veined with black, and are not eatable. They are most
expert fishers, though seldom fat ; and often gorge them-
selves, [so] that they cannot fly ; but they are expert divers,
and have the power of sinking their body so that only their
head is above water, and at will maintaining it ; their dive
is generally forty to fifty yards, and but a little below the
surface. On the land he is helpless, can neither walk, nor
fly, but [is] quite at home in the water.
On the iG^ August M' Malcolm Ross, with four small
Canoes loaded with Goods arrived from York Factory, each
carrying about six hundred pounds weight. We left this
house and proceeded up the Rein Deer's River to the Lake,
and to near the head of the Rivulet, where was a point of
tolerable Pines, near the middle of the Lake, on the west
bank, which by numerous observations I found to be in
Latitude 57°. 23' N Longitude 102°. 58'. 35" West of Green-
wich Variation 15 degrees east. We builded Log Huts to pass
the winter, the chimneys were of mud and coarse grass, but
somehow did not carry off the smoke, and the Huts were
wretched with smoke, so that however bad the weather, we
were glad to leave the Huts.^
1 The trading post built by Thompson on the west shore of Reindeer
lake was called by him Bedford House. In it he and Malcolm Ross
spent the winter of 1796-97, one of the coldest winters ever known in wes-
tern Canada. The exact position of the post has not been determined,
but it cannot have been far from the island which I called Thompson
island in making a survey of the lake in 1892.
CHAPTER IX
WINTER AT REIN DEER LAKE
Build a Trading Post at Rein Deer Lake — Winter at Rein
Deer Lake — Intense Cold — Formation of ice in ijgS —
Aurora — Aurora as souls of the dead — Fishing — Hunting —
Moss — Insects — Chepawyan Travelling — Property in
Women — History of a quarrel — Immortality — Angling —
Origen of the Chepawyan archery.
OUR whole dependence for food was on our set nets,
and what little Deer's meat the Chepawyans might
bring us. The fishery during the short open season
was somewhat successful for white fish, but they were not of
the best quaHty ; but when the Lake became frozen over as
usual the Fish shifted their ground, and all we could procure
was a bare subsistence. Winter soon set in, the most severe
I ever experienced ; I had for some years been accustomed
to keep Meteorological Journals, my Thermometers were
from Dolland one of Spirits, and one Quicksilver ; each
divided to forty two degrees below Zero, being seventy four
degrees below freezing point ; I had long suspected that in
extreme cold, as the Spirits approached the bulb, it required
two or three degrees of cold, to make the Thermometer
decend one degree ; I therefore wrote to Mr Dolland, to
make me a large Thermometer divided to upwards of one
hundred degrees below zero. He sent me a Thermometer of
red colored spirits of wine, divided to no degrees below
zero, or 142 degrees below the freezing point, (zero is
32 degrees below the freezing point). The month of October
154
WINTER AT REIN DEER LAKE 155
was many degrees below the freezing point, and on the
17"' day the snow remained on the ground. On November
the 10''' the Thermometer was 10*' below zero; on the ii'**
day 27° below Zero, the iz''' day 12°, the 13 day 15° degrees;
on the 14'^ day 25° degrees ; on the 15*^ day 28 degrees below
zero. And this great deep Lake of 230 miles in length, by 80 to
100 miles in width was entirely frozen over. In the course of
the winter, the ice of the Lake became five to six feet thick.
On the following year, the first water seen along shore was on
the 5'^ day of July. On the 7*^ day, a gale of wind shook
the ice to pieces, and the" whole disappeared, scarce a frag-
ment [remained] on the shore after being frozen over for
7f months.
I may here remark that my hard life, obHging me to cut
holes in the ice for angHng for fish, at all seasons while the
Lake was frozen over, has led me to notice a curious operation
of nature, the ice of these great Lakes, without any current
in them, is very Httle thawed on the surface by the action of
mild weather, the Httle that is softened in the day, the night
makes soHd ice, it is the water beneath the ice, that makes
it decay : when the mild season comes, the ice is gradually
worn away by the action of the water ; often in making holes
for angling, while the surface appeared soHd as [in] winter,
my ice chissel soon went through ; on taking up a piece of
about one square foot, the soHd ice may be four inches thick.
The rest was what we call candles, that is, icicles of fifteen to
eighteen inches, or more in length, each distinct from the
other, it is thus that nature prepares the ice to be broken up
by a strong gale of wind ; In the morning of the 7'** July
the Lake had the appearance of winter, in the afternoon [it
was] as clear of ice, as if it had never been frozen over. A
Gale of wind had left nothing but icicles on the shore.
Although during November the cold was intense, yet not
so much so as to prove the Thermometers, 1795 on the
15*'' December the large Thermometer fell to 42 below
156 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
zero, but the other showed only 40 degrees, and that of
Quicksilver fell into the bulb, which was only four fifths
fuU. On the morning of the 18'^ December, by the large
Thermometer it was 56 degrees below zero, the small spirit
Thermometer stood at 41° degrees, and it appeared no degree
of cold could make it descend into the bulb ; the quicksilver in
the bulb appeared to fill only two thirds of the bulb : it may
be remarked that for four days previous to this great degree
of cold, the Thermometer was at 35 degrees, 37, 44 and 46
degrees below zero. On the 18'^ December at 8 am the
Thermometer was 56 ; at Noon 44 ; and at 9 pm 48 degrees
below zero. It was a day of most intense cold, the ice on the
Lake was spHtting in all directions, the smoke from the
chimneys fell in lumps to the ground. These intense colds
gave me frequent opportunities of freezing quicksilver ; I
often attempted to beat it out into thin plates Hke lead, but
however cautiously I proceeded, the edges were all fractured,
and a few quick blows with the hammer, however light,
would liquefy it.
Hitherto I have said little on the Aurora Borealis of the
northern countries ; at Hudson's Bay they are north west-
ward, and only occasionally brilliant. I have passed four
winters between the Bay and the Rein Deer's Lake, the more
to the westward, the higher and brighter is this electric fluid,
but always westward ; but at this, the Rein Deer's Lake, as
the winter came on, especially in the months of February
and March, the whole heavens were in a bright glow. We
seemed to be in the centre of it's action, from the horizon in
every direction from north to south, from east to west, the
Aurora was equally bright, sometimes, indeed often, with a
tremulous motion in immense sheets, sHghtly tinged with the
colors of the Rainbow, would roll, from horizon to horizon.
Sometimes there would be a stillness of two minutes ; the
Dogs howled with fear, and their brightness was often such
that with only their Hght I could see to shoot an owl at twenty
WINTER AT REIN DEER LAKE 157
yards ; in the rapid motions of the Aurora we were all
perswaded we heard them, reason told me I did not, but it
was cool reason against sense. My men were positive they
did hear the rapid motions of the Aurora, this was the eye
deceiving the ear ; I had my men blindfolded by turns, and
then enquired of them, if they heard the rapid motions of
the Aurora. They soon became sensible they did not, and
yet so powerful was the Illusion of the eye on the ear, that
they still believed they heard the Aurora. What is the cause
that this place seems to be in the centre of the most vivid
brightness and extension of the Aurora : from whence this
immense extent of electric fluid, how is it formed, whither
does it go. Questions without an answer. I am well
acquainted with all the countries to the westward. The
farther west the less is this Aurora. At the Mountains it is
not seen.
I have said our livelihood depended on fishing and hunting.
Part of the fishery was angling for large trout, ^ they are not
to be taken but in deep water, from 20 to 40 fathoms, or
more, for this fish, hooks are not used ; but the Chepawyan
method adopted : the first thing done is making one, or more
holes in the ice with the ice chissel, which is a small bar of
iron of two pounds weight, at one end flat, at the other end
a chissel of an inch in width, the greater part of this is in-
serted in a groove of a strong pole of birch of full six feet in
length, the chissel end projecting about five inches ; with
this, a hole is quickly made in the ice of any dimensions,
without the person in the least wetting himself, the axe is
never used. A sounding line is now used to ascertain the
depth of water, which must not be less than twenty fathoms,
as large trout are found only in deep water. The set line is
now carefully measured, with a coil of five fathoms neatly
made up with a slip knot [it] is attached to the bait, [which]
is the half of a white fish, the head part only, as the trout
^ Cristivomer namaycush (Walbaum). [E. A. P.]
158 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
always takes the white fish head foremost, a small round stick
of birch well dried and hardened by the fire, but not burnt,
is slightly attached to the under part of the bait, about six
inches in length, the line is fixed about one third below the
head of the bait, this is placed as near as possible about six
feet above the bottom. The trout takes the bait, the slip
knot of five fathoms of Hne gives way, which enables him to
swallow the bait, at the end of which he is brought up with a
jerk, which causes the piece of wood to become vertical in
his mouth, his jaws are extended and we often find him
drowned, a strange death for a fish. In angling for trout,
everything is the same, the fish caught alive are better than
those drowned, whether by a set line or in a net ; the weight
of the trout was from twenty five to forty five pounds, I
have heard of trout fifty five pounds ; they are very rich fish,
make a nutritious broth, and pound for pound are equal to
good beef. One day as usual, I had pierced the ice with new
holes, or cleaned out the old holes with an ice racket, [when]
an old Chepawyan Indian came to me, I told him I had five
holes in the ice, and for these two days had caught nothing.
He shook his head, left me and went about one hundred
yards westward of me, we were about five miles from land,
he then looked at all the land within sight, shifted his place
until all his marks coincided, he then pierched a hole thro'
the ice, put down his angling tackle, and in about an hours
time brought up a fine trout of full thirty pounds. By
one PM he caught another, rather larger, soon after which
he gave over, put up his tackle and came to me, I had caught
nothing ; he asked to see my bait which I showed to him, it
was Hke his, he noticed that it was not greased, he showed
his bait which was well greased, and taking out a little bag,
a piece of grease with which he greased the bait twice a day ;
he told me I must do the same. He remarked to me that I
came too soon, and staid too late ; that the trout took bait
only for a while after sunrise to near sunset, but that about
WINTER AT REIN DEER LAKE 159
noon was the best time ; it has always appeared strange to
me that a Trout in forty fathoms water, with a covering
of full five feet thickness of ice, on a dark cloudy day, should
know when the sun rises and sets but so it is. I followed
the Chepawyan's advice, and was more successful.
In hunting, we had but Httle success, and killed only a
few Rein Deer. On fine days small herds would go out on the
Lake some four miles from land, and lie down for a few hours
on the ice as if to cool themselves ; one fine cold day M""
Ross and myself killed a Doe, our hands were freezing, we
opened her, and put our hands in the blood to warm them,
but the heat of the blood was like scalding water which we
could not bear. Both of us were accustomed to hunting
and knew the heat of the blood of many animals, we were
surprised, we examined the stomach, it was full of white
moss. I tasted it, and swallowed a little, it was warm in my
stomach. I then traced the Deer to where they had been
feeding, it was on a white crisp moss in a circular form, of
about ten inches diameter, each division distinct, yet close
together. I took a small piece, about the size of a nutmeg,
chewed it, it had a mild taste. I swallowed it, and it became
Hke a coal of fire in my stomach. I took care never to repeat
the experiment : It is by food of this warm nature, that the
Animals and Birds of the cold regions are not only enabled to
bear the intense cold, but find it warm.
What is the heat imparted to the blood, by each kind of
food ; from the water melon, and wild rice to the Rein
Deer Moss.
This solved to me the excessive heat of the blood of the
Rein Deer, on this Lake only I have found this moss. I
have tasted all the mosses of Lake Superior and many other
Lakes, but have found nothing of the same. Is this moss
then peculiar to the northern barren countries of rock and
moss, that the food of the Rein Deer and Musk Oxen shall
make the temperature of fifty to seventy degrees below the
160 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
freezing point as the month of April is to our cattle ; it
appears so.
M"" Ross and myself several times, when we went a hunting,
took a Thermometer with us to ascertain the heat of the
blood of the Rein Deer, but it so happened, when we had a
Thermometer with us, we killed no Deer, and therefore
could not know the heat of the blood. The Stomach, or
Paunch, of the Rein Deer is taken out of the animal, the
orifice tied up, and then for three days hung in the smoke,
but not near the fire. It is now sour, bits of meat and fat
are mixed with the contents, it is then boiled, and all those
who have eaten of it say it is an agreeable, hearty food.
In the spring of the year, as the snow begins occasionally
to thaw, myriads of a small black insect^ make their appear-
ance, so numerous, that the surface of the snow is black with
them, they are about one twentieth of an inch in length, of
a compact make, they cover the sides of Lakes, and Rivers ;
snow shoe paths, and other places ; they come with the first
thaw of the snow, and disappear with the snow. The ques-
tion is, from whence are these myriads of insects which are
seen on the snow, they cannot come from the ground, pene-
trate three feet of hard snow, they are never found below the
surface of the snow. How do they Hve, upon what do they
live. Upon examining the edges of the ice, as it began to
thaw, I saw a great number of insects something Hke those
in the snow, they were rather larger, the head had two
feelers, the body increased in size to the end, where it was
round. They had two legs, some were dead, others dormant.
Those that were fully alive and active, upon my touching
them with my finger, made a leap of about an inch into an
almost invisible crevice of the ice, and there remained. The
native name is Oopinarnartarwewuk, jumping insects. From
whence come so suddenly these myriads of insects on the
* Snow Fleas, Achorutes. [E. A. P.]
WINTER AT REIN DEER LAKE 161
surface of the snow, and edges of the ice ; and in such
myriads ; and only on the snow and ice, and each has a
distinct insect.
My residence on the Rein Deer's Lake which has become
the country of the Chepawyans ; gave me an insight into the
morals and manners of these people which I had not before.
I have already noticed the treatment of the Women and
every thing that passed this Winter confirmed it ; during
this season many of them came in to trade ; the bank of the
Lake to the House, was a low regular slope ; seing a Woman
carrying a heavy child, and hauling a long, loaded sled ; as
she came to the bank, I desired one of the Men, who was
remarkable for his great strength to assist her, she gave the
trace to him : thinking a Woman could not haul any weight
worth notice, he carelessly put two fingers to the trace of
the Sled, but could not move it ; he had at length to employ
all his strength to start the Sled, and haul it to the House :
the Sled and load weighed about one hundred and sixty
pounds : among them was a little girl of about six years of
age. She had her sled, and hauled on it, a brass Kettle that
held four gallons : The Boys had a Hght Sled, or carried a
few pounds weight, the Men had little else than their Guns ;
such is the order when removing from place to place during
the winter ; Those who make use of Canoes during the
summer, and they are now almost in general use, place the
women in far more easy circumstances, and the Men take
their share of paddling the canoes ; loading and unloading
them ; but in fact the Women are considered as the drudges
of the Men.
The Women, until they have children appear to be the
property of the strongest Man, that has no woman : One
day in the latter end of February, a Chepawyan called the
Crane and his Wife came to the House, he was well named,
tall, thin, and active, he at times hunted for us. His wife
was a good looking young Woman, they appeared to love
162 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
each other but had no children. Six, or seven of us were
sitting in the guard room talking of the weather, the Crane
was smoking his pipe, and his Wife sitting beside him, when
suddenly a Chepawyan entered, equally tall, but powerfully
made. He went directly to the Crane and told him " I am
come for your woman, and I must have her, my woman is
dead, and I must have this woman to do my work and carry
my things " ; and suiting the action to the word he twisted his
hand in the hair of her head to drag her away ; on this the
Crane started up and seized him by the waist ; he let go the
Woman, and in like manner seized the Crane ; and a wrestling
match took place which was well maintained by the Crane
for some time ; but his adversary was too powerful, and at
length his strength failed, and he was thrown on the floor,
his opponent placing his knee on his breast, with both hands
seized his head and twisted his neck so much, that his face
was almost on his back, and we expected to see it break ; in
an instant we made him let go, kicked him out of the house,
with an assurance that if he came back to do the same, we
would send a ball through him ; he seemed to think he had
done wrong, upon which we told him that he was welcome
at any time to come and smoke, or trade, but not to quarrel.
After standing a few minutes he called to the Crane ; You are
now under the protection of the White Men, in the summer
I shall see you on our lands, and then I shall twist your neck
and take your woman from you ; he went away and we saw
no more of him ; Their lands, which they claim as their own
country ; and to which no other people have a right, are
those eastward of the Rein Deer's and Manito Lakes to
Churchill Factory and northward along the interior of the
sea coast ; aU other lands they hunt on belonged to the
Nahathaways, who have returned to the Southwest ward.
Early in the month of December, past midnight, a Chepawyan
of middle stature, of about twenty five years of age, came to
the house alone, he brought a bundle of Beaver and Marten
WINTER AT REIN DEER LAKE 163
skins ; he looked about with suspicion ; and enquired if any
of the Natives were near the house. We told him, there had
been none for several days ; he then traded his furrs for
necessaries, except a few Martens for Beads and Rings. He
told me he had a Wife and two children ; and enquired if I
knew a certain Indian. I said I did ; " Then when you see
him, tell him we are all well, he is my uncle, and the only
man who is kind to me." After smoking, I offered him a
Bison Robe to sleep on, but he told me he must set off
directly ; which he did, having staid only about an hour.
There was something strange about him which excited my
curiousity. About a month afterwards his Uncle came to
the House ; I told I had seen his Nephew, and that he had
come alone in the night to trade, and desired me to say they
were all well, and then enquired the reason of his hasty
leaving the House after trading ; he smoked for some time ;
and then said My Nephew is a man, but he has not been wise,
he is not strong, about five winters ago, a young woman was
given to him, and after a few moons, we camped with some
other tents of Chepawyans, where there was a tall strong
young man who had no woman. He went to my nephew
and demanded him to give up his wife, which he refused to
do, upon which the other took hold of him, threw him on the
ground, and began twisting his neck ; we told him to let
him alone and take the woman ; she was unwilling to go with
him, upon which he laid hold of her hair to drag her away ;
my nephew sprung up, took his gun and shot him dead, and
made the ground red with man's blood, which he ought not
to have done ; We all pitched away and left the place :
since which he lives alone and is afraid to meet any tents,
for they take every thing from them, and leave them nothing
but the clothes they have on ; he has been twice stripped
of all he had ; and therefore keeps away by himself. I told
them that if I had a wife, and any one came to take her away,
I would surely shoot him ; Ah, that is the way you White
164 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Men, and our Neighbours the Nahathaways always talk and
do, a Woman cannot be touched but you get hold of guns
and long Knives ; What is a woman good for, she cannot
hunt, she is only to work and carry our things, and on no
account whatever ought the ground to be made red with
man's blood. Then the strong men take Women when they
want them ; Certainly the strong men have a right to the
Women. And if the Woman has children ; That is as the
strong man pleases. So far as the Women are concerned
they are a sett of Brutes. The expression " the ground red
with Man's blood " is used by all the Natives of North
America as very hateful to see ; but by the southern Indians,
accustomed to war, it is limited to that of their relations
and tribe ; yet it has a meaning I never could comprehend
in the same sense as the Natives use it, for they seem to
attach a mysterious meaning to the expression. In the latter
end of March, this forlorn Native, again came to the House
alone ; he had made a good hunt of furrs and traded them in
clothing for himself and family, ammunition and tobacco,
not forgetting beads and other articles for his wife. I en-
quired of him, if what his uncle had told me was true, he said
it was, that he had been twice pillaged, and that the Women
were worse than the Men ; you see I have again come to you
in the night, and before I came into the House, I made sure
there were no Chepawyans, for if I had met any they would
have taken the whole of my hunt from me, and left me with
nothing. I enquired why he did not tent with the Nahatha-
ways who think much of their women, and love brave men.
He was at a loss what to say, or do.
With regard to the immortahty of the soul ; and the
nature of the other world, the best evidence of their belief
I learned from a woman ; her husband had traded with me
two winters. They had a fine boy of six years of age, their
only child ; he became ill and died ; and according to their
custom she had to mourn for him twelve Moons, crying in
WINTER AT REIN DEER LAKE 165
a low voice " She azza, She azza " (my little son) never
ceasing while awake, and often bursting into tears.
About three months after, I saw her again, [making] the
same cry, the same sorrowful woman, her husband was kind
to her ; About six months after this I saw her again, she no
longer cried " She azza," and was no longer a sorrowing
woman ; I enquired of her the cause of this change. She
replied. When my little son went to the other world, there
was none to receive him, even his Grandfather is yet alive ;
he was friendless, he wandered alone in the pitching track of
the tents, (here she shed tears) there was none to take care
of him no one to give him a bit of meat. More than two
moons ago, his father died, I sorrowed for him, and still
sadly regret him, but he is gone to my son, his father will
take great care of him. He will no longer wander alone, his
father will be always with him, and when I die I shall go to
them. Such was the belief that comforted this poor child-
less widow, and in which I encouraged her, and telling her
that to be happy in the other world, and go to our relations,
we must lead good lives here.
These people though subject to great vicissitudes yet
suffer less from extreme hunger than the Nahathaways. The
latter pride themselves with living by hunting animals, look
on fish as an inferior food, and the catching of them beneath
a Hunter. The former pride themselves on being expert
anglers, and have made it their study ; the great Lakes of
their country yield the finest fish, and when the Deer fail
they readily take to angling, altho' it affords them no clothing.
They are in possession of many secrets of making baits for
taking the different kinds of fish ; which they would not
impart to me ; but being in their company something was
seen. The bait for the Trout, the largest fish of the Lakes,
was the head half of a White Fish, well rubbed with Eagles
fat, for want of it, other raw fat ; but not greese that had
been melted by the fire : The Pike and Pickerel take almost
166 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
any thing, even a red rag ; but the pride of these people
is to angle the White Fish, an art known to only a few of
the Men ; they would not inform me of its composition, the
few baits I examined appeared to be all the same, and
the castorum of the Beaver worked into a thick paste, was
the principal item ; around were the fine red feathers of the
Woodpecker, a grain of Eagles fat was on the top of the
bait, and the hook was well hid in it ; the bait had a neat
appearance. The art of angling White Fish is to them of
importance, a young man offered a gun for the secret and was
refused.
These people, the " Dinnae " their native name, though
better known to us by the name of Chepawyans ; extend in
different tribes speaking dialects of the same language, to
near the Pacific Ocean, by the way of Fraser's River : I have
already mentioned, they claim as their own rightful country,
from Churchill Factory, and northward to the arctic sea,
their origin by this account of themselves must have been
from Greenland. By what means they came to the north
eastern part of this conti[nent], is better a subject of dis-
cussion in the Appendix than here : If we knew the state
of Archery in Greenland, or Iceland it might lead us to
something certain on these people ; All the Natives of North
America, except the " Dinnae " in drawing the Arrow, hold
the Bow in a vertical, or upright position, which gives to
the arms their full action and force ; but the Dinnae, or
Chepawyans, hold the Bow in a contrary, or horizontal
position, the Arrow is held on the string, by two fingers
below and the thumb above and with the Bow string thus
drawn to the breast, which does not allow to the Bow two
thirds of its force ; practice has made them good marksmen,
but the arrows are feeble in effect. Do any of the people of
Greenland, Iceland, or the northern nations of Europe, or
Siberia, handle the Bow in this manner. If so, some inference
WINTER AT REIN DEER LAKE 167
may be drawn from it. Of the state of the Thermometer,
and other pecuharities of the climate they will be found in
the Appendix.^
^ In Thompson's note-books are many pages of meteorological observa-
tions taken at various places throughout western Canada ; but in this
manuscript as it came to me, there was no appendix, and it is not likely
that any was prepared.
CHAPTER X
NORTH WEST COMPANY
Leave Hudson's Bay Company — Joiri North West Company —
Instructions to explore the country — Fur Trade — Peter
Pond — West end of Lake Athabasca — Philip Tumor —
Carrying Place of Lake Superior — Brigade — Start on
Survey — Height of Land — Sieux — Rainy Lake — Rainy
River — Massacre — Winipeg River — Winipeg Trading
House — Lake Winipeg.
THE countries I had explored was under the sanction
of M"^ Joseph Colen/ the Resident at York Factory
the most enlightened gentleman who had filled that
situation ; by a Letter from him, I was informed, that how-
1 See note on p. 56. Joseph Colen seems to have been a capable
trader, but his interests were centred in increasing the fur-trade with the
Indians who came to York Factory of their own accord, rather than
following these Indians to their hunting-grounds. As far as we know,
he himself never went inland more than a few miles from the trading
post ; and in spite of the fact that he was being urged by the directors
of the Company in London to have the great unknown spaces to the south
and west of him explored, he was opposed to spending men, money, and
time on such exploration. His orders to Thompson that he should stop
surveying were therefore directly contrary to the wishes of his superiors
in London. It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that his recall in 1798
was due to the fact that he had prevented Thompson from continuing
his explorations, and had forced him out of the Company's service. It is
possible that Thompson may not have known of Colen's true attitude to-
wards his work, and that he may have thought Colen was merely trans-
mitting to him the orders he had received from London ; or possibly the
long time which had elapsed between the date when Thompson left the
Company, and that when he wrote his memoirs, had mellowed his feelings
towards his old chief, and had induced him to write the kindly remarks
here recorded.
168
NORTH WEST COMPANY 169
ever extensive the countries yet unknown yet he could not
sanction any further surveys. My time was up, and I deter-
mined to seek that employment from the Company Mer-
chants of Canada, carrying on the Furr Trade, under the
name of the North West Company : With two Natives I
proceeded to their nearest trading House, under the charge
of M"^ Alexander Fraser ; and by the usual route of the
Canoes arrived at the Great Carrying Place ^ on the north
shore of Lake Superior, then the depot of the merchandise
from Montreal ; and of the Furrs from the interior countries.
The Agents who acted for the Company and were also Partners
of the Firm, were the Honorable William McGillvray'^ and
* The Grand Portage, or Great Carrying Place, was situated on the
north shore of Lake Superior, forty miles south-west of Fort William.
For about twenty-five years it was the central depot of the Canadian
traders from Montreal who had associated themselves either in the
North- West Company or in one of the concerns competing with it. To
this place the goods which were to be used in trading with the Indians
for their furs were brought from Montreal either in large canoes or in
sail-boats ; and the furs which had been collected in the interior country
to the west of it, were taken back to Montreal in the same boats. From
the shore of Lake Superior the trading goods were carried over a path or
trail nine miles in length, past heavy rapids and waterfalls to the banks
of Pigeon river, where they were loaded into smaller canoes in charge of
resident partners, but manned by Indians or half-breeds, who had brought
cargoes of furs from the west and north, and who now took back with them
supplies for another year. After the signing of the Treaty of London in
1794, it was found that Grand Portage was in American territory ; there-
fore, in 1 80 1, the depot was moved to Fort William. Accordingly, it
was to Fort William that Thompson brought his furs when he descended
the Saskatchewan river from Rocky Mountain House in 1802.
2 William McGillivray was a Scotsman who. after serving for several
years in the employ of the North- West Company in the districts of Red
and English rivers, became a partner in the concern by buying Pond's
share for the sum of ;^8oo ; and soon became one of its most influential
members. In 1814 he was appointed a Legislative Councillor of Lower
Canada in recognition of the services rendered by him and the North-
west Company during the war with the United States in 181 2. With
Edward Ellice he represented the North-West Company in the negoti-
ations for a union with the Hudson's Bay Company, and it was largely
through his tact and ability that this union was brought about in 1821.
His later years were spent in Scotland, where he died about 1825.
170 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Sir Alexander McKenzie/ gentlemen of enlarged views ; the
latter had crossed the Rocky Mountains by the Peace River
and was far advanced by Fraser River towards the Pacific
Ocean, when want of Provisions and the hostility of the
Natives obliged him to return. From the Great Slave he
had explored the great River which flowed from it into the
Arctic Sea, and which is justly named McKenzie's River.
My arrival enabled these Gentlemen and the other
Partners who were present, to learn the true positions of
their Trading Houses, in respect to each other ; and how
situated with regard to the forty ninth degree of Latitude
North, as since the year 1792 this parallel of Latitude from
the north west corner of the Lake of the Woods to the east
foot of the Rocky Mountains, had become the boundary Hne
between the British Dominions and the Territories of the
United States : instead of a line due west from the North
west corner of the Lake of the Woods to the head of the
Mississippe, as designated by the Treaty of 1783.^ The
scource, or head of the Mississippe was then unknown except
to the Natives and a very few Furr Traders ; and by them,
from it's very sinuous course, supposed to be farther north
than the northern banks of the Lake of the Woods. And
wherever I could mark the line of the 49**" parallel of Latitude
[I was told] to do so, especially on the Red River. Also, if
^ Mackenzie's name is too well-known to need much comment here.
A native of Stomoway on the island of Lewis, he came to Canada in 1779,
went to the country west of Lake Superior in 1785, and became a partner
in the North- West Company in 1787. In 1789 he descended the Mac-
kenzie river from Lake Athabaska to its mouth, and in 1 793 he ascended
Peace river to the source of Parsnip river, and thence travelled west-
ward to the Pacific ocean at the mouth of Bella Coola river, being the
first white man to cross the North American continent north of Mexico,
See George Bryce, Life of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Toronto, 1906 ("The
Makers of Canada," vol. viii).
* For a full discussion of terms of the treaties affecting the boundary
between the United States and Canada, and the awards under these
treaties, see James White, "Boundary Disputes and Treaties" (in Canada
and its Provinces, Toronto, 1913, vol. viii. pp. 751-958).
NORTH WEST COMPANY 171
possible to extend my Surveys to the Missisourie River ;
visit the villages of the ancient agricultural Natives who
dwelt there ; enquire for fossil bones of large animals, and
any monuments, if any, that might throw light on the ancient
state of the unknown countries I had to travel over and
examine. The Agents and Partners all agreed to give orders
to all their Trading Posts, to send Men with me, and every
necessary I required [was] to be at my order.
How very different the liberal and public spirit of this
North West Company of Merchants of Canada ; from the
mean selfish policy of the Hudson's Bay Company styled
Honorable ; and whom, at little expense, might have had
the northern part of this Continent surveyed to the Pacific
Ocean, and greatly extended their Trading Posts ; whatever
they have done, the British Government has obliged them
to do. A short account of the transactions of this Company,
will prove to the pubHc the truth of what I assert, and will
throw some light on the discoveries that from time to time
have been made.
The furr trade was then open to every Person in Canada
who could obtain credit for a canoe load of coarse Mer-
chandise ; and several different Persons engaged in this trade,
besides those Merchants from Scotland who formed the
North West Company : Among the Clerks of this last Com-
pany, was a M"" Peter Pond,^ a native of the city of Boston,
^ Peter Pond was born in Milford, Connecticut, on January i8, 1740.
When a young man, he went to the Indian country west of Lake Superior.
In 1775 he joined Alexander Henry and the Frobishers on Lake Winni-
peg, and with them ascended the Saskatchewan river as far as Cumber-
land House. In 1778 he reached Athabaska river, and built a trading
post on that stream, forty miles south of Lake Athabaska, which he was
undoubtedly the first white man to visit. Thompson is in error in saying
that Pond's post was on the north side of Lake Athabaska. In the winter
of 1780-81, while at Lake La Ronge, Pond killed his partner Wadin ;
and six years later he killed John Ross, one of the partners of the firm of
Gregory, McLeod, and Company. About 1790 he sold his interest in the
North- West Company and went to the United States, where he spent the
rest of his life. He drew two maps of western Canada, apparently in
172 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
United States. He was a person of industrious habits, a good
common education, but of a violent temper and unprincipled
character ; his place was at Fort Chepawyan ^ on the north
side of the Athabasca Lake, where he wintered three years.
At Lake Superior he procured a Compass, took the courses
of the compass through the whole route to his wintering
place ; and for the distances adopted those of the Canadian
canoe men in Leagues, and parts of the same, and sketching
off the Lake shores the best he could. In the winters, taking
the Depot of Lake Superior as his point of departure, the
Latitude and Longitude was known as determined by the
French Engineers ; he constructed a map of the route
followed by the Canoes. It's features were tolerably correct ;
but by taking the League of the Canoe Men for three
geographical miles (I found they averaged only two miles)
he increased his Longitude so much as to place the Athabasca
Lake, at it's west end near the Pacific Ocean. A copy of
1785 and in 1790 respectively ; but the contents of these maps could not
have been known before George Charles, who is mentioned below, was
sent from. London, though the earlier map was known when Philip Turnor
was sent to survey Lake Athabaska in 1791. See L. J. Burpee, The Search
for the Western Sea, Toronto, 1908, pp. 322-349 ; and Reports of the Cana-
dian Archives for 1889 and 1890, pp. 29-38 and pp. 52-54 respectively.
' Fort Chipewyan is at present situated on a rocky point on the north
shore, and near the western end, of Lake Athabaska. The first fur-trading
post of this name was built on the south side of Lake Athabaska by
Roderick Mackenzie in 1 788 ; and it was from here that Alexander Mac-
kenzie set out on his two expeditions to the Arctic and Pacific oceans.
But the post was moved over to its present site about the end of the
eighteenth century. In 1802 Peter Fidler, of the Hudson's Bay Company,
built a trading post beside Fort Chipewyan (or as Thompson called it
when he visited it in May, 1804, " Athabasca House "), and named it
Nottingham House. Four years later, however, the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany abandoned the whole of the Athabaska district to their Canadian
rivals, and evacuated Nottingham House. In 181 5 they returned to
Lake Athabaska, and established a post called Fort Wedderbume on
Coal Island, some little distance from the trading store of the North-West
Company ; but in 1821 the two companies were united, and the site and
name of the North- West Company's post were retained. Fort Chipewyan
has thus been continuously occupied now for more than a century.
NORTH WEST COMPANY 173
this Map was given to the Agents of the North West Com-
pany ; whom, in London laid it before Sir Hugh Dalrymple/
then in office, whose character stood high as a gentleman of
science, and great geographical knowledge, and who com-
paring the Longitude of the west end of the Athabasca
Lake hy M" Pond's map with the Charts of Captain Cook
found the distance to be only one hundred miles ; or less,
[and] directly conceived that it offered a short route to the
coasts of Asia for dispatch and other purposes. To verify
this Map, the Colonial Secretary applied to the Hudson Bay
Company to send out a Person duly qualified to ascertain
the Latitude and Longitude of the west end of the Athabasca
Lake. With this request the Company were obliged to appear
to comply.
For this purpose in 1785 they sent out a M" George
Charles ^ aged fifteen years, whom they had made their
apprentice for seven years ; when he landed at Churchill
Factory I saw him, and enquired how he came to undertake
this business, he told me he had been about one year in the
mathematical school, had three times with a quadrant brought
down the Sun to a chalk line on the wall, was declared fuUy
competent, and sent out to go on discovery. Of course
nothing could be done. Had this honourable Company in-
tended the position of the west end of the Lake should be
known, there were then many Naval Officers on half pay,
who would gladly have undertaken the expedition to the
Athabasca Lake and settled it's position. What the views of
the Company could be for preventing the knowledge re-
quired, though often a subject of conversation, none could
divine, their charter gave them the Country, and the furr
traders of Canada had had Houses there for several years.
Whatever the views of the Company may have been, this
trick of sending out a Lad, prevented the CoUonial Office
* This is an error for Alexander Dalrymple. See note on p. 28.
* See note on p. 27.
174 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
from obtaining the desired information for five years. The
pressing demands of this Office then obliged the Hudson's
Bay Company to engage a Gentleman fully competent, a Mr
PhiHp Turnor/ one of the compilers of the Nautical Almanac,
who, in the year 1790 proceeded to Fort Chepawyan at the
west end of the Athabasca Lake, and head of the Great Slave
River, where he wintered, and by observations, found the
place to be in Latitude . . . Longitude ^ . . . and from this
place the following year returned to England ; After this
great exertion of the Hudson's Bay Company, they again
became dormant to the time of Captain FrankHn's survey of
the Arctic Coast from the Copper Mine River.*
1 See note on p. 146.
2 Tumor's latitude and longitude are given by Thompson in his notes
as 58° 38' N.. 110° 26|' W.
' In 1 81 9 Captain (afterwards Sir John) Franklin was sent in charge
of a party from England to explore the Arctic coast of America, east of
the mouth of the Coppermine river. With him were Sir John Richardson,
Sir George Back, and Lieutenant Hood as assistants. They went to York
Factory on Hudson Bay by ship, and ascended the Hayes and Saskat-
chewan rivers to Cumberland House by boat before the winter set in. In
January, 1820, Franklin and Back proceeded on foot to Fort Chipewyan
on Lake Athabaska, while Richardson and Hood followed them in canoes
as soon as the rivers were free of ice, and arrived at the fort on July 13.
From there the whole party descended the Slave river, crossed Great
Slave lake, and ascended Yellowknife river, near the source of which it
went into winter quarters, and built houses which Franklin called " Fort
Enterprise." In the summer of 1821 the party descended and made a
survey of the Coppermine river to its mouth, surveyed the Arctic coast
eastward to the mouth of Hood's river, and thence crossed overland to
Fort Enterprise, suffering terrible hardships from exposure and starvation,
both on the way to, and after their arrival at, the fort, one of the men being
driven to such extremities by starvation that he killed Lieutenant Hood.
The following year the survivors returned to York Factory, and thence to
England. In 1825 it was determined to continue the exploration of the
northern coast of America east and west from the mouth of Mackenzie
river, and Captain Franklin was again given charge of the expedition.
On this occasion he sailed from London to New York. Thence he pro-
ceeded to Fort William on Lake Superior, and from there by Lake Winni-
peg to the Mackenzie river, and down that stream to the mouth of Great
Bear river, which was ascended to Great Bear lake, on the north shore
of which Fort Franklin was built. Here the party wintered. In 1826
NORTH WEST COMPANY 175
M' Peter Pond I have mentioned as an unprincipled man
of a violent charac[ter] ; he became implicated in the death
of a M' Ross,^ a furr trader, and afterwards [was] a principal
in the murder of a Mr Wadden,^ another furr trader ; for
this latter crime he was brought from the Athabasca Lake
to Canada, and sent to Quebec to be tried for the murder
he had committed ; but the Law authorities did not con-
sider the jurisdiction of the Court of Quebec to extend into
the territories of the Hudsons Bay Company, and therefore
they could not take cognizance of the crime, and he was set
at liberty ; he went to his native city, Boston. This was in
1782. The following year peace was made ; the Commis-
sioners on the part of Great Britain were two honest well
meaning gentlemen, but who knew nothing of the geography
of the countries interior of Lake Ontario, and the Maps they
had to guide them were wretched compilations. One of them,
of which I had a fellow Map, was Farren's [Faden's] dated
the party descended the Mackenzie river to its mouth, where it divided,
FrankUn and Back going westward along the Arctic coast as far as Point
Beechey, while Richardson and Kendall went eastward along the coast
to the mouth of the Coppermine river, and thence ascended that stream
and crossed country to Fort Franklin, where a second winter was spent.
The following year Franklin and Richardson returned to England by
New York, while Back took the remainder of the party to England by
York Factory.
1 John Ross was a partner in the firm of Gregory, McLeod, and Com-
pany in charge of the Athabaska department, where he was opposed by
Peter Pond of the North-West Company. The two men did not get on
well together, and in an altercation during the winter of 1786-7 Ross was
shot. This murder caused the two opposing firms to unite their interests
under the name of the North-West Company.
^ Wadin also fell before Pond. Roderick Mackenzie says that he was
" a Swiss gentleman, of strict probity and known sobriety," who went to
Lake La Ronge in 1 779 to engage in the fur trade. In the following year
Pond was sent to the same place to act in conjunction with him. " About
the end of the year 1780, or the beginning of 1781, Mr. Wadin had re-
ceived Mr. Pond and one of his friends to dinner, and in the course of the
night the former was shot through the lower part of the thigh, when it
was said that he expired from loss of blood" (Alexander Mackenzie,
Voyages, London, 1801, Introduction, p. xvi).
176 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
1773, which went as far as Lake Ontario, and to the middle
of this Lake, beyond which, the interior countries were repre-
sented composed of Rocks and Swamps and laid down as unin-
habitable. Mitchell's Map was the best. Such Maps gave M"^
Peter Pond who was personally acquainted with those coun-
tries every advantage. A boundary line through the middle
of Lake Champlain, and thence due west would have been
accepted at that time by the United [States] for it was more
than they could justly claim, had a gentleman of abiHties
been selected on the part of Great Britain, but at that time
North America was held in contempt. To the United States
Commissioners M"" Pond designated a Boundary Line passing
through the middle of the S' Lawrence to Lake Superior,
through that lake and the interior countries to the north
west corner of the Lake of the Woods ; and thence westward
to the head of the Missisourie ^ being twice the area of the
Territory the States could justly claim ; This exorbitant
demand the British Commissioners accepted ; and [it] was
confirmed by both Nations. Such was the hand that desig-
nated the Boundary Line between the Dominions of Great
Britain and the Territories of the United States. The
celebrated Edmund Burke, said, and has left on record,
" There is a fatahty attending all the measures of the British
Ministry on the North American Colonies." This sad, but
just remark has been exemplified in every transaction we
have had with the United States on Territory ; and in this
respect Lord Ashburton was outwitted by M"^ Daniel Webster
at the Treaty of Washington, both in New Brunswick, and
the interior of Canada.
It may be said, the country thus acquired by the United
States is of no importance to England ; be it so ; then let
England make a free gift to the States of what the latter
require. History will place all these transactions in their
' This is a mistake for the Mississippi.
NORTH WEST COMPANY 177
proper light, and the blockhead treaty of Lord Ashburton^
will be a subject of ridicule.
The south east end of the Great Carrying, was in a small
Bay of Lake Superior, in Latitude 47 . 58 . 1 N. Longitude
89 . 44 . 20 W of Greenwich. It was then, and had been for
several years, the Depot of the Furr Traders ; to this place
the Canoes from Montreal came, each carrying forty to forty
five pieces of merchandise, including spirituous liquors ; each
piece of the weight of ninety to one hundred pounds ; these
canoes then were loaded with the packs of furrs, the produce
of the winter trade of the interior countries, and returned to
Montreal ; The Merchandise for the winter trade of the
distant trading Posts was here assorted, and made up in pieces
each weighing ninety pounds ; the Canoes were of a less
size, and the load was twenty five pieces, besides the pro-
visions for the voyage and the baggage of the Men : being a
weight of about 2900 pounds, to which add five Men, the
weight a canoe carries will be 3700 pounds.
These Canoes are formed into what are called Brigades of
four to eight Canoes for the different sections of the interior
countries. On board of one of these canoes, of a Brigade of
four under the charge of M"" Hugh McGillis,^ I embarked on
^ The Ashburton Treaty between Great Britain and the United
States in 1842 defined the boundary hne between the possessions of the
two countries from New Brunswick and the State of Maine westward as
far as the summit of the Rocky Mountains. The subsequent Oregon
Treaty signed at Washington in 1846 defined the boundary from the
Rocky Mountains westward to the Pacific ocean.
* At the time when Thompson joined the North-West Company, Hugh
McGilhs was one of the senior employees of the company, and was in charge
of the Swan river district. When the Company was reorganized in 1802,
he became one of the partners, holding two shares, and when the North-
West and X Y Companies united in 1804, he was one of those who signed
the agreement by attorney. During the winter of 1805-06, when Lieu-
tenant Pike reached the headwaters of the Mississippi, he was in charge
of a post at Leech lake. Later, his name appears as one of those officials
of the North-West Company taken prisoners by Lord Selkirk at Fort
William in 1816.
M
178 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the ninth day of August, in the year 1796, for the survey
of the southern sections.
My instruments were, a Sextant of ten inches radius,
with Quicksilver and parallel glasses, an excellent Achromatic
Telescope ; a lesser for common use ; drawing instruments,
and two Thermometers ; all made by DoUond. We pro-
ceeded over the Great Carrying Place, the length of which is
eight miles and twenty yards in a north west direction to the
Pigeon River,^ which is about three hundred feet above Lake
Superior : this was carried over by the Men in five day's
hard labor. From this to the Height of Land the distance
is thirty eight miles, including twelve carrying places, of five
and a half miles of carriage, which makes severe labor for the
canoe men : A short distance south eastward of the Height
of Land in the crevices of a steep rock, about twenty feet
above the water of a small Lake, are a number of Arrows
which the Sieux Indians shot from their Bows ; the Arrows
are small and short. The Chippaways, the Natives say :
these Arrows are the voice of the Sieux and tell us, " We
have come to war on you, and not finding you, we leave these
in the rocks in your country, with which we hoped to have
pierced your bodies." This was about the year 1730. These
Indians the Sieux Nation ^ are yet a powerful nation, and their
^ This is a small stream about forty miles in length which flows into
the north-western side of Lake Superior. Throughout its length it forms
the boundary line between the United States and Canada.
* The Sioux are essentially Indians of the great plains and prairies,
and have always been among the most powerful of the tribes on the North
American continent. They appear to have been centred in the vicinity
of the headwaters of the Mississippi river, and to have occasionally ex-
tended north-eastward to Lake Winnipeg and Lake of the Woods, and
northward to the Saskatchewan river. The division of the Sioux family
which is most conspicuous in western Canadian history, consists of
the Assiniboin or Stonies, who appear to have separated themselves
from the other Sioux tribes some time before the advent of the whites,
and to have formed an alliance with the Crce to the north of them, after
which they were constantly at war with the Sioux to the south of them.
At the present time the total number of Assiniboin in western Canada
is about 1,400.
NORTH WEST COMPANY 179
present hunting grounds are between the Mississippe and
Missisourie Rivers and [they] now make use of Horses instead
of Canoes.
The Height of Land is in Latitude 48 . 6 . 43 N Longitude
90. 43 . 38 W and Variation six degrees East, and is the dividing
ridge of land from which the Streams run southeastward into
Lake Superior, and north eastward into Lake Winepeg, and
from thence into Hudson's Bay.
The country so far, is at present, of no value to the farmer,
time may do something for it as a grazing country, from it's
many Brooks and small Lakes of clear water.
The country now declines to the North eastward with
many small. Streams, which form a fine River. The first
place worth notice is the Rainy Lake, a fine body of water of
nineteen miles in length, out of which falls the Rainy River
by a descent of about ten feet ; close below which is a trading
House of the North [West] Company in Latitude 48 . 36 . 58 N
Longitude 93 • 19 • 30 W.^ The distance from the Height of
Land is one hundred and seventeen miles the country im-
proving, and in several places good Farms can be made. The
Rainy River is a fine stream of water of about 200 yards in
breadth, with only one Rapid, at which in the season, many
fine Sturgeon are speared by the Natives. The length of
the river to the Lake of the Woods is 50-i- miles. This is the
finest river in this country. The banks present the appear-
ance of a country that can be cultivated but those acquainted
with it, think the rock too near the surface. The Lake of
the Woods is in length 32^- miles with many bays, its area
may be about 800 square miles, with many islets. The north
eastern shores are of granite ; it's western of limestone ; and
[it] touches on the great western alluvials.
1 The post which was on the north bank of the river •Cv^as known after
the union of the North-West and Hudson's Bay Companies as Fort
Frances, having been so called after the wife of Sir George Simpson,
the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.
180 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
It seems that when the French from Canada first entered
these furr countries, every summer a Priest came to instruct
the Traders and their men in their rehgious duties, and
preach to them and the Natives in Latin, it being the only
language the Devil does not understand and cannot learn :
He had collected about twenty Men with a few of the Natives
upon a small Island, of rock; and while instructing them, a
large war party of Sieux Indians came on them and began the
work of death ; not one escaped ; whilst this was going on,
the Priest kept walking backwards and forwards on a level
rock of about fifty yards in length, with his eyes fixed on his
book, without seeming to notice them ; at length as he
turned about, one of them sent an arrow through him and
he fell dead. At this deed the rocky isle trembled and
shook ; the Sieux Indians became afraid, and they retired
without stripping the dead, or taking their scalps. These
Isles, of which there are three, are to this day called " The
Isles of the dead " (Les isles aux Morts) Such was the rela-
tion an old Canadian gave me, and which he said he had
learned of the Furr Traders who then resided among those
Indians.
The Lake of the Woods is memorable for being by every
treaty the north western boundary of the Dominions of Great
Britain and the United Territories of the United States.
This Lake may be said to be the most southern Lake of the
Stony Region that has limestone shores at it's west end, the
north and eastern parts like the other Lake, have the shores
and banks of granite, greenstone and clay slate. This Lake,
by several Falls sends out the River Winepeg (Sea River) in
a north western direction into Lake Winepeg. It is a bold
deep Stream of about three hundred yards in width, it has
many isles and channels, the whole is of granite formation.
By the course of the River it's length is 125 miles ; In this
distance there are thirty two Falls, with as many carrying
places, the total length of which is three miles. At it's
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NORTH WEST COMPANY 181
sortie into Lake Winepeg is a trading House ^ first established
by the French and kept up by the North West Company :
in Latitude 50 . 37 . 46 N Longitude 95 • 39 • 34 W Variation
nine degrees east. The whole extent of country from Lake
Superior to this House can support, comparatively, to the
extent of country, but few Natives, who are of the Chippeway
Tribe ; the country never could have been rich in animals ;
and has long been exhausted : the Deer is almost unknown,
and but few furr bearing animals remain ; the principal
support of the Natives is the fish of the Lakes, of which are
Sturgeon,'^ White Fish,^ Pike,"* PickereP and Carp,^ the quality
good. The greatest use of the Winepeg House is for a depot
of Provisions, which are brought to this place by the canoes
and boats from the Bison countries of the Red and Saskat-
chewan Rivers, and distributed to the canoes and boats for
the voyages to the several wintering furr trading Houses.
Lake Winepeg'' (or the Sea) so called by the Natives from it's
1 This trading post, first known as Fort Maurepas, was founded in
1734 by one of the sons of La Verendrye on the north side of the Winnipeg
river, some Uttle distance above its mouth. When the French left the
country the post was abandoned ; but in 1792 Toussaint Lesieur, one of
the employees of the North-West Company, built a post, which is now
called Fort Alexander, on the south side of the river, and a few miles lower
down the stream than the old French fort. Gabriel Franch^re, who
passed this place in 181 4 on his way east from the Columbia river, wrote
of it, " This trading post had more the air of a large and well-cultivated
farm, than a fur-traders' factory ; a neat and elegant mansion, built on a
slight eminence, and surrounded with barns, stables, storehouses, &c.,
and by fields of barley, peas, oats, and potatoes."
'^ Acipenser rubicundus Le Sueur. [E. A. P.]
' Coregonus. [E. A. P.]
* Esox lucius Linn. [E. A. P.]
* Stizostedion vitreum (Mitchill). [E. A. P.]
" Suckers, probably Catostomus catostomus (Forster), and Moxostoma
lesueuri (Richardson). [E. A. P.]
' Lake Winnipeg is one of the great inland seas of Canada, having a
length of 260 miles and a total area of 9,414 square miles. It is thus
considerably larger than Lake Ontario, and only 500 square miles less
than Lake Erie. It lies in a general south-east and north-west direction,
its north-eastern shore being composed of granite and similar plutonic
182 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
size, is of the form of a rude Paraelelogram ; and it's geological
structure is the same as that of all the Lakes northward and
westward ; its eastern shores and banks are of the granitic
order ; the north side mostly high banks of earth ; the west
side is low, the shores, and the isles wholly of limestone : On
the west side, in it's southern bay, it receives the Red River
distant from the Winepeg House forty two miles. North-
ward of the same bay [is] the Dauphine River ; at its north
west corner the Saskatchewan River, besides other lesser
streams on it's west and east sides, all which enlarge the
Saskatchewan, which flows out at the north east corner of
the Lake in Latitude 53 . 43 . 45 N Longitude 98 . 31 .0 West.
The length of the west side of this lake from the Winepeg
House to the sortie of the Saskatchewan River into the lake
is 231 miles, N 36 W and it's east side is about 217 miles ;
the north side 45 miles and the south side about the same :
and including its isles, [it] has an area of about 10,080 square
miles. The woods all around this Lake are small, with many
branches, in winter the climate is severe ; and there [are] very
few deer, and other animals ; but the fish are good, and it's
isles in the summer season are covered with the nests of the
common Gull,^ the eggs of which are nearly as good as those
of our common Fowls ; There are but few natives about this
Lake, and they lead a hard life.
rocks, while on its south-western shores are long low-lying areas of clay
land skirted with beaches of sand, gravel, or boulders, above which occa-
sionally rise cliffs of horizontally stratified limestone. Considering its
great size the lake is shallow. Whitefish of excellent quality and flavour
are particularly abundant in it, and great numbers are caught every year.
The name is an Algonquin one, meaning bad water, and is properly ap-
plied by the Indians to Hudson Bay with its salt undrinkable water.
The original Algonquin name is " the Great Lake," and I have not been
able to learn how the name " Bad Water Lake " became applied to it, but
probably it was through an imperfect understanding by the white pioneers
of the information supplied them by the Indians.
1 Larus argentatus Pontoppidan. [E. A. P.]
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CHAPTER XI
GREAT PLAINS
Great Plains — Low range of hills — Animals of the Hills —
Squirrels — Field Mice — Animals of the Plains — Bison —
Manner of hunting Bisons — Pounding Bisons — Plains on
Fire — Wolves — Red Deer — Jumping Deer — Antelope —
Badger — Climate — Mississourie River — Snags — Bow River
— Coal — Mammoth.
H
ITHERTO the Reader has been confined to the
sterile Stony Region and the great Valley of the
Lakes. My travels will now extend over countries
of a very different formation ; these are [called] the Great
Plains as a general name, and are supposed to be more ancient
than the Stony Region and the great Valley of the Lakes.
By a Plain I mean lands bearing grass, but too short for
the Scythe ; where the grass is long enough for the Scythe,
and of which Hay can be made, I name [them] meadows.
These Great Plains may be said to commence at the north
side of the Gulph of Mexico, and extend northward to the
latitude of fifty four degrees ; where these plains are bounded
by the Forests of the north, which extend unbroken to the
arctic Sea. On the east they are bounded by the Mississippe
River, and northward of which by the valley of the lakes ;
and on the west by the Rocky Mountains. The length of
these Plains from South to North is 1240 miles ; and the
breadth from east to west to the foot of the Mountains,
from 550 to 800 miles giving an area to the Great Plains of
1,031,500 square miles, in which space the Ozark Hills are
183
184 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
included. The perpetual snows and Glaciers of the Moun-
tains, which everywhere border the west side of these Plains,
furnish water to form many Rivers ; all these south of the
latitude of forty nine degrees flow into the Mississippe River,
the most northern of which is the Missisourie River. Close
northward of the scources of the Missisourie, are the south
branches of the Saskatchewan River,^ which descends to
Hudson's Bay. The next great Rivers northward are the
Athabasca and Peace Rivers, which with other lesser streams
form McKenzie's River, which empties itself into the Arctic
Sea. It may be remarked among other great differencies
between the Stoney Region and the Great Plains, that all
the Rivers of the former Region, or that pass through it,
meet with, and also form many Lakes and Falls, while all
the Rivers in their courses through the Great Plains, and the
northward forest lands, do not form a single Lake. Thus the
three great Rivers of North America enter different seas. The
Mississippe from Latitude 47 . 39 . 15 N Longitude 95 . 12 . 45
running about S. by E. into the gulph of Mexico in Latitude
. . . Longitude. . . .^ The Saskatchewan rising in Latitude
51 . 48 . 25 N. Longitude 116 . 45 . 13 W running NE ward into
Hudson's Bay in Latitude 57.6 North Longitude 91 . 20 W
and McKenzie's River, it's great southern branch rising in
Latitude 52 . 20 N Longitude 1 18 . o . o W running NNE ward
into the sea in Latitude . . . Longitude . . .^
So different are the courses of these Rivers on the same
side of the Rocky Mountains from which they take their
rise ; and on entering the different seas into which they
discharge their waters, they all appear of about equal magni-
* The Indian name for this river is Kissiskatchewan, or swift-flowing
river, but the fur-traders shortened the word by leaving out the first
syllable.
* The mouth of the Mississippi is in latitude 29° N., longitude 89° W.
3 The Mackenzie river discharges its waters into the Arctic sea through
many channels, but the mean position of its mouth might be taken as
latitude 69* N., and longitude 135" W.
GREAT PLAINS 185
tude. The east side of these Great Plains have a fine appear-
ance, the soil is rich, with many extensive Meadows. A
range of fine low HiUs sufficiently well wooded, with many
springs of fine water and Rivulets, which for small Rivers
navigable to Canoes and Boats as the Dauphine, Swan, Mouse,
and Stone Indian Rivers, with several Rivulets all flowing
through a rich soil. The Hills are the Turtle Hill, the most
southern, and not far from the Missisourie River. The next
northward are the Hair, the Nut, the Touchwood, the
Dauphine, the Eagle, and the Forrest Hills. The west side of
these Hills, as seen from the Plains have gentle elevations of
about two hundred feet ; but as seen from the eastward,
present an elevation of five to eight hundred feet above the
common level, and have very fine Forrests of well grown trees
of Birch,^ several kinds of Pine," Poplar,^ Aspin,* and small
Ash^ and Oaks.^ These Hills are the favourite resort of the
Moose ' and the Red Deer,^ with two or three species of the
Antelope.® The Black, Brown, and Yellow Bears ^° feed on
the Berries, the Nuts and any thing else they can catch ; one
of them was shot that was guarding part of an Antelope,
which he had killed and partly eaten ; how this clumsy brute
could have caught so fleet an animal as the Antelope was a
matter of wonder. The Bears lay up nothing for their sub-
sistence in winter, and are then mostly dormant. As we
travelled through the fine forests we were often amazed with
1 Betula papyrifera Marsh. [E. A. P.]
^ Besides the Banksian Pine, Pinus divaricata (Ait.), the spruces are
probably included. [E. A. P.]
' Populus balsamifera Linn. [E. A. P.]
* Populus tremuloides Michx. [E. A. P.]
^ Fraxinus. [E. A. P.]
* Quercus macrocarpa Michx. [E. A. P.]
' Alces americanus (Clinton). [E. A. P.]
* Cervus canadensis Erxleben. [E. A. P.]
' There is only one species, Antilocapra americana Ord. Perhaps
Thompson here, as elsewhere, includes Deer (Odocoileus) . [E. A. P.]
*" The Black Bear, Ursus americanus Pallas, and formerly the Grizzly
Bear, Ursus horribilis Ord. [E. A. P.]
186 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the activity of the Squirrels ^ collecting hazel nuts for their
supply in winter, and of which each collects more than a
bushel, whereas the Squirrels" of the Pine Forests of the north
seem to lay up nothing, but are out every day feeding on the
cones of the White Pine.^ The Field Mice "* are also equally
active in laying in store provisions for the winter. The
cHmate is good, the winters about five months, the summers
are warm, and autumn has many fine days. The soil is rich
and deep, and [there is] much vegetable mould from the
annual decay of the leaves of the Forest Trees, and the grass of
the Meadows : CiviHzation will no doubt extend over these
low hills ; they are well adapted for raising of cattle ; and
when the wolves are destroyed, also for sheep ; and agri-
culture will succeed to a pastoral life, so far as Markets can
be formed in the country, but no further ; for Canada is
too distant and difficult of access. The only Port open to
them is York Factory on the dismal shores of Hudson's Bay,
open four months in the year. And to go to York Factory
and return will require all that part of the summer which
cannot be spared : but when a civilized population shall
cover these countries, means will be found to make it's produce
find a Market.
From the gulph of Mexico to the Latitude of 44 degrees
north, these Great Plains may be said to be barren for great
spaces, even of coarse grass, but the cactus grows in abundance
on a soil of sand and rolled gravel ; even the several Rivers
that flow through these plains do not seem to fertiHse the
grounds adjacent to them ; These rivers are too broad in
proportion to their depth and in autumn very shallow ; the
Mountains are comparatively low and therefore sooner
exhausted of their winter snows, and travellers often suffer
1 Probably Chipmunks, Eutamias borealis (Allen). [E. A. P.]
* Sciurus hudsonicus Erxleben. [E. A. P.]
^ White Spruce, Picea canadensis (Mill.). [E. A. P.]
* Microius p. drummondi and other species. [E. A. P.]
GREAT PLAINS 187
for want of water. But as one advances northward the soil
becomes better, and the Missisourie River through its whole
length to it's confluence with the Mississippe carries with it
lands of deep soil, on which are many Villages of the Natives,
who subsist partly by agriculture and partly by hunting.
The course of the Missisourie is through an elevated part of
these Plains, and it's great body of water has a swift current
for about four miles an hour, which makes the ascent of this
River in boats very laborious, although there are neither
rapids, nor falls : Although the heads of this River give
several passages across the Mountains yet from the labor
being so great, and also [the being] exposed to attacks from
hostile Indians, [it seems] that Steam Vessels are the only
proper craft for this River ; and even to these, it's many
shoals and sands offer serious impediments, for it's waters
are very turbid. From these there arises more vexation than
danger ; this latter is incurred every day by what are called
Sawyers, Planters, and Snags, names which have been ridiculed
without offering better in their stead. But however these
things may be laughed at, they are very serious obstacles to
the navigation of this River, and also of the Mississippe.
They all proceed from trees torn up by the roots, by the
freshets from heavy rains, or the melting of the Snow.
The Planter is a tree that has it's head and branches
broken, its roots frequently loaded with earth, and some-
times stones ; drags the bottom until something stops it,
and the roots become firmly fixed in the bottom ; when the
water is high and covers them, they are dangerous, but in
low water can be seen : The Sawyer is generally a Tree of
large dimensions broken about the middle of its length, it's
roots are in the mud of the bottom of the River, sufficiently
to retain them there ; but not so firmly as to keep the broken
tree steady, the strong current bends the tree under as much
as the play of the roots will permit, the strain on which
causes a reaction, and the tree rises with a spring upwards to
188 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
several feet above the water, and with such force as will
damage or destroy any Vessel ; but as the rising of these
Sawyers are often seen at some distance, they are avoided :
though I have seen some that being by the current immersed
many feet under water have taken fifteen to twenty minutes
between each appearance. The smaller the Tree the quicker
their work. A Bison Bull in swimming across the River got
on a small one, and remained swimming with all his might,
though still in the same place. When the water becomes
low, many of these Sawyers have very little water and we see
the whole machinery. The Snag is the same as the Planter,
only always under water, so that it is not seen, and cannot
be avoided ; several boats have been sunk by them : the
water is so turbid nothing can be seen under it's surface. The
River next northward of the Missisourie is the Bow River,^ so
named from a species of Yew Tree on its banks, of which
good Bows are made. This is the most southern River of the
British Dominions and the South Branch of the Saskatchewan.
The Bow River flows through the most pleasant of the
Plains, and is the great resort of the Bison and the Red Deer,
and also of the Natives ; the soil appears good along it's whole
extent, but for the most part is bare of Woods, and those
that remain are fast diminishing by fire. The soil of the
plains appears to continue increasing in depth, and the same
1 Bow river is the translation of the Cree Indian name Manachaban
Sipi. It is so called on account of the growth of Douglas fir on its banks,
as from this wood, if it could be obtained, bows were made. As here used
the name is applied to the whole length of the south branch of the Sas-
katchewan river from its source in the Rocky Mountains to its junction
with the north branch at " The Forks." As far as we yet have certain
information, it was first descended in 1800 by four men sent by Thompson
from Rocky Mountain House, and later in the same year it was again
ascended by Belleau, Fidler, and John Wills, to the forks of the Red Deer
and Bow river proper, where Chesterfield House was built by the North-
west, Hudson's Bay, and X Y Companies respectively to secure the trade
with the Blackfeet. The site was occupied by these companies for two
years, and was then abandoned.
GREAT PLAINS 189
through the Forests. In Latitude 56 degrees north, is the
Smoke River, the great south branch of the Peace River ;
by the GuUies and Ravines the earth appears to have a depth
of about 300 feet ; Those who wish to find a material cause
for this apparent increasing depth of earth from south to north ;
are led to suppose a great flood of water from the gulph of
Mexico rushed northwards along the Mountains, denuded all
the south parts of it's earth, leaving sand and rounded gravel
for a soil ; and carried the earth northward, where it has
settled in great depth ; here is a grand cause with a great
effect. But how came the Rivers not to be defaced. The
Rivers that roll through this immense unbroken body of land
of Plains and Forests, are so beautifully distributed ; all
their banks so admirably adjusted to the volumes of water
that flow between them, that neither the heaviest rains nor
the melting of the Snows of the Mountains inundate the
adjacent country. In all seasons, the Indians, the Bisons ^ and
Deer,^ repose on their banks in perfect security. Who ever
calmly views the admirable formation and distribution of the
Rivers so wonderfully conducted to their several seas ; must
confess the whole to have been traced by the finger of the
Great Supreme Artificer for the most benevolent purposes,
both to his creature Man, and the numerous Animals he has
made, none of whom can exist without water. Water may
be said to be one of the principal elements of life.
Coal appears to be sparingly found in North America ;
and the beds [are] very far between each other. The only
beds of coal that have come to my knowledge, are those which
lye near the foot of the Rocky Mountains ; the Missisourie
is said to have coal, but of this I am not sure. The branches
of the Saskatchewan River in the freshets lodge Coal on the
sands of the Rivers. On the main River when the water
lowers, several bushels of very good Coal can be collected on
1 Bison bison (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
2 Odocoileus. [E. A. P.]
190 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the Sands, and at the Rocky Mountain House,^ where I passed
two winters and one summer, we found the bank about
ICO yards below the House to be of pure coal, and of an
excellent quality. My Blacksmith tried this coal, and at the
first trial it melted the rod of iron, and from the great heat it
gave, he had to use half charcoal ; and thought the quality
of the coal superior to any brought from England. This bed
of Coal extends as far as 56 degrees of north Latitude, and
Longitude . . . West. For the Smoke River ^ is so named,
from the volumes of dark smoke sent from the Coal Mines
there on fire, and which have bten burning beyond the
memory of the oldest Indian of that River.
From the very numerous remains in Siberia and parts
of Europe of the Elephant, Rhinocerous, and other large
Animals, especially near the Rivers, and in their banks, of
those countries, I was led to expect to find the remains of
those Animals in the Great Plains, and the Rivers that flow
through them : but all my steady researches, and all my
enquiries led to nothing. Over a great extent of these
Plains not a vestige could be found, nor in the banks of the
many Rivers I have examined.^
1 Rocky Mountain House was built by the North-West Company in
1799, under instructions from John McDonald of Garth, who was living
at the time at Fort George. It was situated on the north side of the
North Saskatchewan river, a mile and a quarter above the mouth of
Clearwater river. Thompson spent here the winters of 1800—01 and
1806-07. When I visited the place in 1886, some of the bastions of the
old fort were still standing.
* This river, which is one of the large branches of Peace river, is
rightly stated by Thompson to have been named from the seams of coal
which are burning on its banks. It is set on fire by spontaneous com-
bustion caused by the oxidation of iron pyrites, which occurs associated
with the coal.
^ It is a rather curious circumstance that the occurrence of fossil bones
in western Canada should have been unknown to Thompson and his asso-
ciates, for while they might not have found them themselves, it would
have been only reasonable to suppose that they would have been told
about them by the Indians. It is true that mastodon bones are very
scarce, there being only one authenticated record of a find of such bones
GREAT PLAINS 191
The fossil bones of the large animals that have been
found on this Continent appear to be limited to the United
States east of the Allegany Mountains (Hills), and on the
west side to the Ohio River, and the countries southward on
the east side of the Mississippe and to South America. On
the west side of the Mississippe only one large bone has been
found, which the Natives reverenced and [which] has given a
name to two tribes, the great, and the little, Osage Indians.
This large bone, several years ago, was purchased from the
Natives and placed in the museum of Washington City.
The Natives when questioned on the fossil bones of the Ohio
River, made a fable for an answer. That in old times these
Mammoths were numerous ; they devoured all other Animals,
and did not allow Man to live ; at length the Great Spirit
became angry. He descended with the Thunder in his hands,
and destroyed them all ; except the big Bull, the Thunder
struck him on the forehead but did not kill him, he bounded
away, sprang over the Mississippe River, and ran to the west,
where he yet lives. (Note. When on the head waters of
the Athabasca River and Mountain defiles to the Columbia
River ; the Natives, but especially the White and Iroquois
Hunters, all declared these places to be the haunt of an
enormous Animal who lived on grass, moss and the tender
shoots of the willows ; nor could all my arguments when
there make a single convert to the contrary).
Not a single fossil bone of an Elephant, Rhinocerous, or
Mammoth has been found in all Canada nor about any of
on the plains of the west, namely, on Shell river in northern Manitoba.
But on the banks of the Red Deer river, as well as on some of the other
streams farther south, huge bones of dinosaurs and other gigantic reptilian
animals of late Cretaceous age are fairly abundant. In fact this locality
is now one of the most famous collecting grounds of these fossil bones in
North America. The reason for this ignorance was doubtless that these
bones are not found on the banks of the North Saskatchewan river, which
was the ordinary line of travel at that time, and that the streams to the
south of it, on which they do occur, were practically unknown to the
white men.
192 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the Great Lakes, and valley of the [St.] Lawrence, and north-
ward to the Arctic Circle, although almost all these countries
are sufficiently known ; nor has the travels of Captain Franklin
in the Arctic Regions been attended with any success on this
subject. On the west side of the Rocky Mountains, I passed
six year ^ of discovery, yet not a vestige that these great
Animals once existed in those parts could be found. We may
therefore conclude, that the great animals of North America
were limited to the east and west sides of the Allegany Hills,
and the east side of the valley of the Mississippe, and no
farther to the northward and westward on this Continent :
and that these were all destroyed by the Deluge, which also
put an end to other races of animals and thus the Great
Creator made the Earth more habitable for his favourite
creature Man.
^ The years referred to are 1807 to 181 2 inclusive.
CHAPTER XII
SWAN RIVER COUNTRY
Cross Lake Winipeg — Dauphine River — Swan River — Szoan
River House — Set out for Upper House on Stone Indian
River — Trading House in charge of M. Belleau — Reach
Upper House on Red Deer River — Fearlessness of Plain
Deer — Man and the Beaver — Introduction of iron imple-
ments by the French — Character of the Beaver — The Dam —
Beaver Houses — Burrows — Beaver Hunting — Beaver Dogs
— Long Beaver Dam — Tradition of the Beaver — Castorum
— Destruction of the Beaver — Journey — Stone Indians.
I HOPE I have now given such a general view of the
formation of the Great Plains and their eastern borders
as will enable the reader readily to follow me in my
travels. One of the principal objects of the North West
Company was to ascertain the Courses of the Rivers, the
situation of the Lakes, and of their several Trading Houses,
which in some parts appeared to be too near each other, and
in other parts, too distant.
From the Winepeg House we coasted the Lake with it's
shore of limestone, mostly low, but at times forming cliffs to
the height of fifty feet to the mouth of the Dauphine River. ^
To this place our straight course has been N 43 W 127 miles.
We now proceeded up the Dauphine River, a fine stream of
^ Dauphin river is now known as the Little Saskatchewan river,
and flows from Lake Manitoba into Lake Winnipeg. Thompson omits
to mention that he passed through Partridge Crop and St. Martin lakes
on the way up the Dauphin river, and that after leaving the head of
this river he passed through a long stretch of Lake Manitoba before he
reached the Meadow Portage.
193 N
194 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
about thirty yards in width, and an average of three feet in
depth. As we advanced the country improved in soil, and
also the Forests through which it runs, but the Deer and the
Beaver are few. Having proceeded eighty eight miles in a
straight course of S 74 W, the River has many turnings in
this distance, we came to the Meadow Carrying Place ^ of
2760 yards, which leads from the River to Lake Winepegoos ^
(the little Sea). The Dauphine comes out of this Lake, but
it's course is now so circuitous, with shoal Rapids, that the
Carrying Place is preferred. We went over this Lake for
fifty nine miles to the entrance of the Swan River, a small
stream of about fifteen to twenty yards in width, with a
depth of about three feet and gentle current, through a fine
country, for we are now among the fine low Hills I have
already mentioned ; the Beaver are now plenty ; but the
Deer are only beginning to leave the heights of the Hills
where they pass the summer.
Having proceeded twelve miles we came to the Swan River
House of the North West Company,^ in Latitude 52 . 24 . 5 N
Longitude 100 . 36 . 52 W Variation 13 East. There were but
two families of the Natives, Nahathaway Indians to whom
these countries belong : but several Chippewas * have lately
^ Lake Winnipegosis discharges into Lake Manitoba by Waterhen
river, a stream which first flows north and then turns and flows a Uttle
east of south, almost parallel with its former course. In order to avoid
the ascent of this stream it was customary for the canoemen to carry their
canoes and cargoes over a low grassy ridge 3,130 yards across, which sepa-
rated the two lakes. This was known as the Meadow Portage or Carry-
ing Place.
* The name of this lake is now regularly spelled Winnipegosis. It is
a large narrow body of moderately clear water, with a greatest length of
120 miles, and a total area of 2,000 square miles. The total distance
travelled by Thompson through this lake from the Meadow Portage to
the mouth of Swan river was 145 miles, and not 59 miles as stated in
the text.
* For a more exact statement of Thompson's movements at this time,
and the position of this house, see p. Ixxiii.
* The Chippewa, or as they are sometimes called the Ojibways, are one
of the great branches of the Algonquin family which was so widely spread
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SWAN RIVER COUNTRY l95
come from the southward where their own countries are
exhausted of the Beaver and the Deer. These two famiUes
having procured Ammunition and Tobacco went off to inform
the others of the arrival of the Canoes. From the Swan River,
on the zG^ September 1796 [1797] we proceeded with Horses
across the country to the Stone Indian River, (on which the
North West Company have several trading Houses) to the
upper House in charge of M"" Cuthbert Grant,^ N 40-$- W 90
miles ; this distance was mostly through fine Forests through
which our Horses found the ground every where good,
except a few wet meadoWs, in which they did not go ancle
deep. My Indian Guide had learned that the Pawnee
Indians had been defeated, and altho' by Indians of whom
he knew nothing, yet kept bawHng the whole day, " We have
fought with the Pawnee's and have conquered them." He
was a Chippeway. In the evening when we camped, I told
him, he was the only Warrior I ever knew, that boasted of
conquering a people whom he never saw, nor was likely to
see, and that no one woiild believe him ; he replied. We
young men, at present, have no opportunities of distinguish-
ing ourselves, the enemies that our fathers warred on are
driven across the Missisourie River, far beyond our reach,
but I wiU sing no more.
We now turned to the trading House in charge of M'
Belleau,^ situated between the Swan and Stone Indian Rivers,
over Canada from the Rocky Mountains eastward to the Atlantic ocean.
The centre of the territory occupied by them was probably about Sault
Ste. Marie, at the east end of Lake Si;4)erior.
* For the position of this post, see p. Ixxiii. It appears to have been
founded by Peter Grant about 1793, and to have been occupied by Cuth-
bert Grant afterwards. Cuthbert Grant was the father of the Cuthbert
Grant who took so large a part in the Red River troubles in the early part
of the nineteenth century. He had been with Peter Pond and Alexander
Mackenzie on Lake Athabaska in 1786 and 1789. Masson says that he
died in 1799.
* Pierre Belleau, the man here referred to, was an old engage of the
North-West Company who was in charge of a number of posts throughout
the North- West in the latter part of the eighteenth century. A man of
196 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
and as usual observed for Latitude and Longitude, which
gave 51° 51' 9" N i02°-3o" W the course N. 12 W 30 miles.
In this distance the country had much wet ground from the
many ponds kept full by Beaver Dams. We returned to
M^ Grants, and from there journeyed to the Upper House
on the Red Deer River,^ in charge of M' Hugh McGillis, in
Latitude 52-59-7 N Longitude 101-32-27 W the course
N 10 E III Miles, but the Ponds formed by the Beaver, and
their Dams which we had to cross lengthened our Road to
150 miles ; these sagacious animals were in full possession of
the country, but their destruction had aheady began, and was
now in full operation. All the above Trading Houses of the
this name, and probably the same individual, was in charge of the party
for the X Y Company which ascended the South Saskatchewan river in
the summer of 1800, and founded Chesterfield House at the forks of the
Bow and Red Deer rivers.
^ Thompson's map shows this house to have been on the north bank
of the Red Deer river. It was probably opposite the mouth of the
Etoimami river, between three and four miles south of Hudson Bay
Junction on the Canadian Northern Railway, where the ruins of two old
houses were seen in 1889. This post is probably the one referred to as
Fort La Biche on Pond's map of 1790, though there it is wrongly placed
on the Swan river. In this case, it was doubtless one of the oldest trading
posts south of the Saskatchewan river and west of the Manitoba lakes ;
the only other posts designated on the map being Fort Dauphin on Lake
Dauphin, and Fort Epinette on the Assiniboine river. There was also
another trading post on the Red Deer river which was known as the
Lower Settlement, and was said to be sixty miles below the Upper Settle-
ment. It was situated on the north bank of the river a short distance
west of Red Deer lake, on a flat, which, in 1889, was covered with grass
and rose bushes or small poplars. Here and there were pits or cellars
where potatoes had doubtless been stored during the winter, and it was
possible to see that the natural sod had been broken in order to grow
potatoes and other vegetables. Just on the bank of the river and almost
ready to be carried away by the first flood was a heap of earth and stones
representing a chimney of one of the old houses. All remains of the
other houses had already been carried away. A little nearer Red Deer
lake, and on the south side of the river, were the remains of the chimneys
and cellars of four old houses representing the site of a trading post of
the Hudson's Bay Company. From one of the heaps of earth and stones,
representing all that remained of a chimney of one of the houses, a large
poplar tree was then growing.
SWAN RIVER COUNTRY 197
North West Company from Canada were on the south west
sides of the range of low Hills which border the east side of
the Great Plains and hitherto all my journeys were those of
pleasure : The Moose Deer of these Hills, although always a
very wary animal, yet from their being more numerous, also
from the Forests being more open, were not the same cautious,
timid, animal that it is in the close, dark, Pine Forests of the
north : aided perhaps, by being accustomed to see other
species of Deer and Horses ; but the Stag ^ with his half a
dozen of Does, which he as carefully guards, and is as ready
to fight for, as any Turkish Pacha for his Harem, that is the
pride of these forests and meadows. But when the season of
love is over, as now, his Does leave him, his head droops,
and [he] is no longer the lordly animal that appeared as light
on the ground as a Bird on the wing. On such a variety of
Hill and Plain, of Forests and Meadows I expected to have
found several mineral Springs, which are so frequent in other
countries ; but neither my attention to this object, nor my
enquiries could find one single Spring : all my information
led only to the saline Brooks of the Red River, from some of
which salt is made by boiling the saline water. All those
fine countries are the hunting grounds of the Nahathaway
Indians.
Previous to the discovery of Canada (about 320 years ago,)
this Continent from the Latitude of forty degrees north to
the Arctic Circle, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean,
may be said to have been in the possession of two distinct
races of Beings, Man and the Beaver. Man was naked and
had to procure clothing from the skins of animals ; his only
arms were a Stake, pointed and hardened in the fire, a Bow
with Arrows, the points hardened with fire, or headed with
stone or bone of the legs of the Deer, a Spear headed in the
same manner, and a club of heavy wood, or made of a rounded
stone of four, or five pounds weight, inclosed in raw hide,
^ Cervus canadensis Erxleben. [E. A, P.]
198 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
and by the same bound round a handle of wood of about
two feet in length, bound firm to the Stone. Such were the
weapons Man had for self defence and with which to procure
his food and clothing. Against the bones of an Animal his
Arrows and Spear had little effect ; the flank of every animal
is open, and thither, into the bowels, the Indian directed
his fatal and unerring Arrows. (Note. Every Hunter is
acquainted with the effects of wounds in the different parts
of an animal ; with an arrow in, or a ball through, the bowels,
an animal if pursued will go a long way : but if let alone,
soon becomes as it were sick, lies down on it's belly and there
dies). Besides his weapons, the Snare was much in use, and
the Spear to assist it for large animals, and by all accounts
the Deer and furr bearing animals were very numerous, and
thus Man was Lord of all the dry land and all that was on it.
The other race was the Beaver, they were safe from every
animal but Man, and the Wolverine. Every year each pair
having from five to seven young, which they carefully reared,
they become innumerable, and except the Great Lakes, the
waves of which are too turbulent, occupied all the waters of
the northern part of the Continent. Every River where the
current was moderate and sufficiently deep, the banks at the
water edge were occupied by their houses. To every small
Lake, and all the Ponds they builded Dams, and enlarged
and deepened them to the height of the dams. Even to
grounds occasionally overflowed, by heavy rains, they also
made dams, and made them permanent Ponds, and as they
heightened the dams [they] increased the extent and added to
the depth of the water ; Thus all the low lands were in posses-
sion of the Beaver, and all the hollows of the higher grounds.
Small Streams were dammed across and Ponds formed ; the
dry land with the dominions of Man contracted, every where
he was hemmed in by water without the power of preventing
it : he could not diminish the numbers half so fast as they
multiplied, and their houses were proof against his pointed
SWAN RIVER COUNTRY 199
stake, and his arrows could seldom pierce their skins. (Note.
In my travels, several thousands of the Natives were not half
so well armed.) In this state Man and the Beaver had been
for many centuries, but the discovery of Canada by the
French, and their settlements up the S* Lawrence soon placed
the Natives far superior to the Beaver.
Without Iron, man is weak, very weak, but armed with
Iron, he becomes the Lord of the Earth, no other metal can
take it's place. For the furrs which the Natives traded, they
procured from the French Axes, Chissels, Knives, Spears and
other articles of iron, with which they made good hunts of
furr bearing animals and procured woollen clothing. Thus
armed the houses of the Beavers were pierced through, the
Dams cut through, and the water of the Ponds lowered, or
wholly run off, and the houses of the Beaver and their Borrows
laid dry, by which means they became an easy prey to the
Hunter.
The Beaver ^ is an animal well known ; the average weight
of a full grown male is about fifty five pounds, his meat is
agreeable to most although fat and oily ; the tail is a deli-
cacy. They are always in pairs, and work together, their
first business is to insure a sufficient depth and extent of
water for the winter ; and if nature has not done this for
them, they make dams to obtain it. If there are more famiHes
than one in a piece of water, they all work together, each
appearing to labor on a particular part.
The Dam is made of Ear.th, pieces of wood laid obhque
to the direction of the dam. The wood employed is always of
Aspin, Poplar or large Willow and Alders ; if Pine is used it
is through necessity, not by choice ; the bottom is well laid,
and if small stones are at hand, they make use of them for
the bottom of the Dam, the earth is brought between their
fore paws and throat, laid down, and by several strokes of
the tail made compact : the pieces of wood, are with their
1 Castor canadensis Kuhl. [E. A. P.]
200 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
teeth, which are ver)^ sharp, and formed Hke small chissels,
cut into the lengths they want, brought to the dam, and
worked in, and thus the Dam is raised to the height required.
It is a remark of many, that Dams erected by the art of Man
are frequently damaged, or wholly carried away by violent
freshets, but no power of water has ever carried away a
Beaver Dam. Having secured a sufficient depth of water
each family builds a separate house, this is in the form of a
low dome : from the door way which is a little way in the
water, gradually rising to about thirty inches in height and
about six feet in diameter ; the materials are the same as
those of the Dam, and worked in the same manner, only the
pieces of wood are much shorter, and if at hand, small flat
stones are worked in. And the coating of the first year may
be about four to five inches thick and every year an additional
coat is added, until it is a foot, or more, in thickness. Grass
then grows upon it, and it looks like a little knowl. The next
work is to make Burrows of retreat ; the first year seldom
more than one, or two can be made, and sometimes none ;
these are carried on, from a few inches below the surface of
the water, direct from it, gradually rising, of about a foot in
height by twenty inches in breadth, so that a Beaver can
turn in them ; their length depends on their easiness of
digging the ground. The general length is about ten feet, but
in good earth they often are of twenty feet, or more. The
second and third years the numbers of Burrows are augmented
to five or six, and where the Beaver have been a long time,
the Ponds, and small Lakes have numerous burrows.
The Indians think the Male and Female are faithful to
each other, they bring up their young for the first year with
care and protection, until the next spring when the female
is about to litter she drives them all away, and some of them,
before they can be made to stay away, receive severe cuts on
the back from the teeth of the old ones. The young Beavers
are very playful, and whimper like children. The Beaver is
SWAN RIVER COUNTRY 201
supposed to attain to the age of fifteen years, some think to
twenty years. The Beaver Hunter is often at a loss what to
do, and sometimes passes a whole day without coming to a
determination ; his shortest and surest way, is to stake up
the door way of the house, the stakes he carries with him
ready for the purpose, but the Beaver are so watchful that
his approach is heard and they retire to their burrows. Some
prefer, first finding the burrows and closing them up with
stakes and cutting off all retreat from the house ; whichever
method he takes, difficulties and hard labor attends him. To
determine the place of the Beavers, for the whole family of
seven, or nine, are seldom all found in the house, the Indian
is greatly assisted by a peculiar species of small Dog, of a
light make, about three feet in height, muzzle sharp, and
brown, full black eyes, with a round brown spot above each
eye, the body black, the belly of a fawn color, it's scent very
keen, and almost unerring. This Dog points out by smeUing
and scratching, the weakest part of the Beaver House, and
the part where they lie ; the same in the burrows, which are
then doubly staked ; the Indian with his Axe and Ice Chissel
makes a hole over the place shown by the Dog, the Beaver
has changed it's place, to find to which end of the burrow
it is gone, a crooked stick is employed until it touches the
Beaver ; another hole is made, and the Beaver is killed with
the Ice Chissel, which has a heavy handle of about seven
feet in length. When the dog smells and scratches at two,
or three places on the beaver house, it is a mark that there
are several in it. The door way being doubly staked, the
Indian proceeds to make a hole near the centre of it, to give
fiill range to his ice chissel, and not one escapes, but all [are
killed] with hard labor : Such was the manner of killing the
Beaver until the introduction of Steel Traps, which baited
with Castorum soon brought on the almost total destruction
of these numerous and sagacious animals.
From this long digression, I return to my travels in the
202 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Nut Hill ; on a fine afternoon in October, the leaves beginning
to fall with every breeze, a season to me of pleasing melan-
choly, from the reflections it brings to the mind ; my guide
informed me that we would have to pass over a long beaver
Dam ; I naturally expected we should have to load our
Horses carefully over it ; when we came to it, we found it a
narrow stripe of apparently old solid ground, with short
grass, and wide enough for two horses to walk abreast : we
passed on, the lower side showed a descent of seven feet, and
steep, with a rill of water from beneath it. The side of the
dam next to the water was a gentle slope. To the south-
ward was a sheet of water of about one mile and a half square
of area, surrounded by moderate, low grassy banks, the
Forests mostly of Aspin and Poplar but very numerous
stumps of the trees cut down and partly carried away by the
Beavers. In two places of this Pond were a cluster of Beaver
Houses, like miniature villages. When we had proceeded
over more than half way of the Dam, which was a full mile
in length, we came to an aged Indian, his arms folded across
his breast ; with a pensive countenance, looking at the
Beavers swiming in the water, and carrying their winter's
provisions to their houses, his form tall and erect, his hair
almost white, which was almost the only effect that age
appeared to have on him, though we concluded he must be
about eighty years of age, and in this opinion we were after-
wards confirmed by the ease and readiness with which he
spoke of times long past. I enquired of him how many
beaver houses there were in the pond before us, he said.
There are now fifty two, we have taken several of their
houses ; they are difficult to take, and those we have taken
were by means of the noise of the water on their houses from
a strong wind which enabled us to stake them in, otherwise
they would have retired to their burrows, which are very
many. He invited us to pass the night at his tent which was
close by, the Sun was low, and we accepted the offer.
SWAN RIVER COUNTRY 208
In the Tent was an old man, almost his equal in age with
women and -children ; we preferred the open air, and made a
good fire to which both of the old men came, and after
smoking a while conversation came on. As I had always
conversed with the Natives as one Indian with another, and
been attentive to learn their traditions on the animals on
Mankind, and on other matter in ancient times, and the
present occasion appeared favorable for this purpose. Setting
aside questions and answers which would be tiresome ; they
said, by ancient tradition of which they did not know the
origen the Beavers had been an ancient people, and then
lived on the dry land ; they were always Beavers, not Men,
they were wise and powerful, and neither Man, nor any animal
made war on them.
They were well clothed as at present, and as they did not
eat meat, they made no use of fire, and did not want it.
How long they lived this way we cannot tell, but we must
suppose they did not live well, for the Great Spirit became
angry with them, and ordered Weesaukejauk to drive them
all into the water and there let them live, still to be wise,
but without power ; to be food and clothing for man, and
the prey of other animals, against all which his defence shall
be his dams, his house and his burrows : You see how strong
he makes his dams, those that we make for fishing wiers are
often destroyed by the water, but his always stands. His
House is not made of sand, or loose stones, but of strong
earth with wood and sometirdes small stones ; and he makes
burrows to escape from his enemies, and he always has his
winter stock of provisions secured in good time. When he
cuts down a tree, you see how he watches it, and takes care
that it shall not fall on him. " But if so wise, for what
purpose does the Beaver cut down large trees of which he
makes no use whatever." We do not know, perhaps an
itching of his teeth and gums.
The old Indian paused, became silent, and then in a low
204 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
tone [they] talked with each other ; after which he continued
his discourse. I have told you that we believe in years long
passed away, the Great Spirit was angry with the Beaver,
and ordered Weesaukejauk (the Flatterer) to drive them all
from the dry land into the water ; and they became and
continued very numerous ; but the Great Spirit has been,
and now is, very angry with them and they are now all to be
destroyed. About two winters ago Weesaukejauk showed to
our brethren, the Nepissings and Algonquins the secret of
their destruction ; that all of them were infatuated with the
love of the Castorum of their own species, and more fond of
it than we are of fire water. We are now killing the Beaver
without any labor, we are now rich, but [shall] soon be poor,
for when the Beaver are destroyed we have nothing to depend
on to purchase what we want for our families, strangers now
over run our country with their iron traps, and we, and they
will soon be poor :
The Indian is not a materialist, nor does he believe in
Instinct, a word of civilized man, which accounts for great
part of the actions of Mankind, and of all those of animated
nature ; the Indian beHeves that every animal has a soul
which directs all it's motions, and governs all it's actions ;
even a tree, he conceives must somehow be animated, though
it cannot stir from it's place. Some three years ago (1797)
the Indians of Canada and New Brunswick, on seeing the
Steel Traps so successful in catching Foxes and other animals,
thought of applying it to the Beaver, instead of [using] the
awkward traps they made, which often failed ; At first they
were set in the landing paths of the Beaver, with about four
inches of water on them, and a piece of green aspin for a
bait, and in this manner more were caught than by the
common way ; but the beaver paths made their use too
limited and their ingenuity was employed to find a bait that
would allure the Beaver to the place of the trap ; various
things and mixtures of ingredients were tried without success ;
SWAN RIVER COUNTRY 205
but chance made some try if the male could not be caught
by adding the Castorum of the female ; a mixture of this
Castorum beat up with the green buds of the aspin was
made. A piece of dry willow of about eight inches in length
beat and bruised fine, was dipped in the mixture, it was
placed at the water edge about a foot from the steel trap,
so that the Beaver should pass direct over it and be caught ;
this bait proved successful, but to the surprise of the Indians,
the females were caught as well as the males : The secret of
this bait was soon spread, every Indian procured from the
Traders four to six steel traps, the weight of one was about
six to eight pounds ; all labor was now at an end, the Hunter
moved about at pleasure with his traps and infalHble bait of
Castorum. Of the infatuation of this animal for Castorum
I saw several instances. A trap was negligently fastened by
its small chain to the stake to prevent the Beaver taking away
the trap when caught ; it slipped, and the Beaver swam away
with the trap, and it was looked upon as lost. Two nights
after he was taken in a trap with the other trap fast to his
thigh. Another time, a Beaver passing over a Trap to get
the Castorum, had his hind leg broke, with his teeth he cut
his broken leg off, and went away, we concluded he would
not come again, but two nights afterwards, he was found
fast in a trap. In every case the Castorum is taken away.
The stick with this, was always licked, or sucked clean, and
seemed to act as a suporific, as they remained more than a
day, without coming out of their houses.
The Nepissings, the Algonquins and Iroquois Indians
having exhausted their own countries, now spread themselves
over these countries, and as they destroyed the Beaver,
moved forwards to the northward and westward ; the Natives,
the Nahathaways, did not in the least molest them ; the
Chippaways and other tribes made use of Traps of Steel ;
and of the Castorum. For several years all these Indians
were rich, the Women and Children, as well as the Men,
206 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
were covered with silver brooches, Ear Rings, Wampum,
Beads and other trinkets. Their mantles were of fine scarlet
cloth, and all was finery and dress. The Canoes of the
Furr Traders were loaded with packs of Beaver, the abundance
of the article lowered the London prices. Every intelligent
Man saw the poverty that would follow the destruction of
the Beaver, but there were no Chiefs to controul it ; all
was perfect liberty and equaUty. Four years afterwards (I797)
almost the whole of these extensive countries were denuded
of Beaver, the Natives became poor, and with difficulty pro-
cured the first necessaries of life, and in this state they remain,
and probably for ever. A worn out field may be manured,
and again made fertile ; but the Beaver, once destroyed
cannot be replaced : they were the gold coin of the country,
with which the necessaries of life were purchased.
It would be worth while for some Gentleman who has
nothing to do ; to look at the sales by auction ; the number
of skins by private sale ; and otherwise disposed of, to count
the number of Beavers that have been killed, and procured
from the northern part of this Continent.
We now journeyed to a trading House in charge of M""
Thorburn,^ in Latitude 50-28-58 N and Longitude 101-45-45
^ I have never visited the site of this old trading post, but Thompson's
survey and observations place it on the bank of the Qu'Appelle river.
It was built by a Canadian trader named Robert Grant about the year
1787, and was named by him Fort Esperance. It, or some fort in the im-
mediate vicinity, was continuously occupied thereafter for many years.
Its chief trade was with the Assiniboin Indians for buffalo meat.
William Thorburn, who was in charge of it at this time, was doubtless
the same man who was in charge of a post on the Saskatchewan river
when Thompson passed down it in 1794 ; and in 1797 his name is among
the list of partners of the North-West Company as in charge of Red river.
From this trading post Thompson travelled south-eastward across the
plains towards the mouth of the Souris river, and in his journal he notes
that he passed an " old fort," doubtless Mountain a la Bosse, which John
McDonnell, writing about 1797, says "has been frequently established
and as often abandoned, owing to the oppositions that came into that
quarter." It was situated on the south bank of the Assiniboine river,
east of the mouth of Gopher Creek, in Sect. 11 or 12, Tp. 10, R. 25, west of
SWAN RIVER COUNTRY 207
West, in a course S 7 E 68 Miles. Having settled the position
of this place, we proceeded down the Stone Indian River to
the House in charge of M' John M'^Donell,^ in Latitude
49-40-56 N Longitude 99-27-15 West, on a course S 69 E
131 miles. These distances in a straight line are along the
banks of the Stone Indian River, about thirty yards in breadth,
but deriving it's water from rains and Snows, is of various
depths, according to the seasons ; in autumn [it is] always
the Principal Meridian, between two and three miles south of the village
of Routledge on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The
situation was a striking one on the point of a level grassy plain which
jutted out into the valley at an elevation of 200 feet above the river.
The fort would appear to have been enclosed by a stockade 200 by 250
feet on the sides ; and within the enclosure were a number of houses for
the officers and men.
1 John McDonnell was a brother of Miles McDonnell, the first Gover-
nor of the Red River colony under Lord Selkirk. He became a partner
of the North-West Company about 1796, and remained in the North-
West until 1 81 5, when he sold out and settled in the township of Hawkes-
bury, in the province of Quebec, where he died and was buried in the
Roman Catholic cemetery. See Masson, Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie
du Nord-Ouest, vol. i., Quebec, 1889, pp. 267-295.
The trading post which was occupied by McDonnell was situated on
the north bank of the Assiniboine (Stone Indian) river, about two miles
above the mouth of the Souris or Mouse river, in the north-east quarter
of Sect. 19, Tp. 8, R. 16, west of the Principal Meridian, and three miles
north of Banting on the south-western branch of the Canadian Pacific
Railway. The site was visited by me in 1890, and at that time evidences
of the existence of this post could be seen on a grassy prairie about four
or five acres in extent, surrounded by a forest of small aspen poplar, near
a ford where an old, but well-defined, trail crosses the river. The site of
the post was marked by pits and mounds which represented the cellars
and chimneys of the houses.
The ruins of another old trading post, possibly one that had belonged
to the Hudson's Bay Company, were said to be clearly marked at a place
about two miles and a half farther up the stream, and also on its north
bank, in Sect. 35, Tp. 8, R. 17. On the south side of the Assiniboine river
the remains of two other trading establishments were found in the same
year, about half a mile apart. Around these little forts the lines of the
palisades, with their bastions and gateways, could readily be traced, and
within the stockades were the remains of the cellars and chimneys of a
number of houses. Pieces of burnt clay that had evidently been between
the logs of which the houses had been built, showed that the houses had
been destroyed by fire.
208 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
shoal. Its course is on the east side of the great Plains, and
the south west side of the low Hills, from whence it receives
several Brooks, and from the Plains the Calling River and a
few brooks. Its course is very sinuous, this, with it's shoals,
detains the Canoes for the upper trading Houses to late in
the season ; From M' Grant's to M' John M'^Donell the
distance is in a direct line near two hundred miles which the
windings of the River increases to near six hundred miles.
This River everywhere flows thro' a pleasant country of good
soil, and in time to come will no doubt, be covered with
agricultural population ; The Bison, the Moose and the Red
Deer with two species of the Antelope, give to the Nahatha-
way Indians, an easy subsistence ; but in a short time the
only furrs they will have to buy the necessities they want,
and cannot now do without, are the Wolf,^ Fox,^ Badger,^ and
Musk Rat,* with the dried meat of the Bison and Deer. The
Stone Indians, a numerous tribe of the Sieux Nation possess
the country southward and westward of this River, to the
Missisourie River, but this latter in common with several
other Tribes. They are friendly to the white people, a fine
looking race of Men and Women, but most noted Horse
thieves of the Horses of other Tribes. It is said of a York-
shire man " Give him a bridle, and he will find a horse " ;
but these will find both the bridles and the Horses.
We remained with M" John M^Donell twelve days : in
which time I put my journal, surveys and sketches of the
countries that were in black lead into ink ; and having sealed
them up directed them to the Agents of the North West
Company.
^ Canis nubilus Say. [E. A. P.]
2 Vulpes fulva regalis Merriam. [E. A. P.]
' Taxidea taxus (Schreber). [E. A. P.]
* Fiber zibethicus cinnamominus Hollister. [E. A, P.]
CHAPTER XIII
JOURNEY TO MANDANE VILLAGES
Start for Mandane Villages — Ventures — Cross Stone Indian
River — Journal — Warned by Stone Indians to be on our
guard against the Sieux — Take great Traverse to Turtle
Hills — Jlsh House — Camp of Stone Indians — Massacre in
1794 — P^^^^ i'^ 1802 — Storm on the Plains — Men Lost —
All day in camp — Buffalo Hunt — Reach Mouse River —
Follow Mouse River — Elbow of Mouse River — Sieux
Indian war party — Dog Tent Hills — Missisourie Reached.
HAVING made our preparations for a journey to the
Mandane Villages on the banks of the Missisourie
River ; on the zS'*" November 1797, we set off.^
Our guide and interpreter, who had resided eight years in
their Villages was a Mons"" Rene Jussomme who fluently
spoke the Mandane Language. M'' Hugh M^'Crachan, a
good hearted Irishman, who had been often to the Villages,
and resided there for weeks and months ; and seven french
Canadians, a fine, hardy, good humoured sett of Men, fond
of full feeding, willing to hunt for it, but more wiUing to
enjoy it : When I have reproved them, for what I thought
Gluttony, eating full eight pounds of fresh meat p"^ day, they
have told me, that, their greatest enjoyment of hfe was
Eating. They are all extremely ignorant, and without the
least education, and appear to set no value on it. All these
^ The names of the men who accompanied Thompson on this journey
are given by him in his note-books as follows : " Rene Jussomme, Joseph
Boisseau, Hugh McCraken, Alexis Vivier, Pierre Gilbert, Fra» Perrault,
Tousst Vandril, L» Jos. Houl, J. B** Minie." For references to these
men, see Coues, New Light, p. 301, &c.
209 o
210 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
excepting my servant man, A. Brosseau, who had been a
soldier, were free traders on their own account for this journey,
each of them on credit from M*^ M'^Donell, took a venture in
goods and trinkets to the amount of forty to sixty skins to
be paid in furrs, by trading with the natives of the Villages.
I was readily supplied with every thing I required which was
chiefly ammunition, tobacco and a few trinkets for expenses.
For my service I had two Horses. Mons'^ Jussomme had one,
and the men thirty dogs, their own property, each two hauled
a flat sled upon which their venture was lashed ; these Dogs
had all been traded from the Stone Indians, who make great
use of them in their encampments. They were all like half
dog, half wolf, and always on the watch to devour every thing
they could get their teeth on ; they did not [do] willing
work, and most of them had never hauled a flat sled, but the
Canadians soon break them in, by constant flogging, in which
they seem to take great delight ; when on the march the noise
was intolerable, and made me keep two or three miles ahead.
As my journey to the Missisourie is over part of the
Great Plains, I shall give it in the form of a journal, this
form, however duU, is the only method in my opinion, that
can give the reader a clear idea of them. With our three
Horses and thirty Dogs with their Sleds, we crossed the Stone
River on the ice ; the Snow on the ground was three inches
in depth. We went about six miles and put up in the woods
of the Mouse River,^ which joins the Stone Indian River
about two miles below the House. The dogs unused to
hauling going any where, and every where from the Men,
who employed themselves all the way in swearing at, and
flogging them ; until we put up, when the Dogs were un-
harnessed, a piece of line tied round the neck of each, and
one, or both fore feet were brought through it, to keep them
quiet and from straying away. At 8 pm the Thermometer
20 degrees below zero.
' Souris river.
JOURNEY TO MANDANE VILLAGES 211
November 29'*". A westerly breeze, at 7 am 27 below
zero, the Men thought it too cold to proceed.
November 30"'. 7 am 32 being 64 degrees below the
freezing point. 9 pm 36 too cold to proceed over the open
plains : and certainly an intensity of cold not known on the
same parallel of Latitude near the Mountains. Necessity
obliged us to hunt the Bison, we killed two Bulls, we could
bring only half the meat to the Tent, which satisfied our-
selves and the Dogs.
December i*'. A WSW Gale. Thermometer 37 below
Zero. We could not proceed but had the good fortune to
kill a good Bison Cow which kept us in good humour. The
severe cold and high wind made the Tent very smoky, so
that, notwithstanding the bad weather, we walked about in
the woods the greatest part of the day, and when in the Tent
we had to lie down.
December 2"*^. At 8 am Ther 36, at 8 pm 15, the wind
WSW. We killed a Bison Cow, which kept the Dogs quiet.
December y^. At 8 am 3, at 8 pm 3 the weather was
now mild but a WNW Gale came on with snow and high
drift [so] that we could not see a fourth a mile from us. And
our journey is over open plains from one patch of Wood to
another patch ; for the Mouse River, on which we are
camped, has Woods only in places, and many miles distant
from each other. And these patches of Wood must be kept
in sight to guide over the plains and none of the Men knew
the use of the Compass, and did not like to trust it. We
could not proceed and the Tent was disagreeable with smoke.
December 4'**. 7 am 4 above Zero WSW gale of Wind.
At 9 AM we set off, and went eleven miles to a grove of Oaks,^
Ash,^ Elm,® Nut * Trees, and other hard Woods ; which are
* Quevcus macvocarpa Michx. [E. A. P.J
* Fraxinus. [E. A. P.]
' Ulmus americana Linn. [E. A, P.]
* Probably Hickory, Hicoria, species uncertain. [E. A. P.]
212 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
always the Woods of this River : At this place we came to
five Tents of Stone Indians, who as usual received us with
kindness ; they did not approve of our journey to the Missi-
sotirie : and informed us, that some skirmishes had taken
place between the Mandane and Sieux Indians in which the
latter lost several Men, which they attributed to the Ammuni-
tion furnished to the former by the trading parties from the
Stone Indian River, such as ours were ; and that they had
determined to way lay us, and plunder us of aU we had, and
also take all our scalps, and [they] warned us to be on our
guarde ; I did not hke this news, but the Men paid no atten-
tion to it, thinking it proceeded from hatred to the Mandanes.
We then followed the River banks for seven miles, and camped
at 4 PM. The River is about twenty yards wide, at present
the water very low.
December 5'*'. 7 am Ther 13 below zero, became mild,
in the afternoon a WSW Gale came on and increased to a
Storm by 6 pm. Mons"" Jussomme, our Guide, informed us,
that he would now take the great traverse to the Turtle Hill ;
we were early up, and by yi am set off : he led us about
South four miles to a small grove of Aspins on the banks of a
brook thence about six miles to the Turtle Brook from the
Hill ; thence S by W seven miles ; we now came on a rising
ground at i pm. but the Turtle Hill was not in sight ; and
all before and around us a boundless plain; and Mons'
Jussomme could not say where we were ; the weather
appeared threatening and preparing for a Storm ; our situa-
tion was alarming : and anxiety [was] in the face of every
man, for we did not know to which hand to turn ourselves
for shelter : I mounted my Horse and went to the highest
ground near us, and with my telescope viewed the horizon
aU around, but not the least vestige of woods appeared ; but
at due North West from us, where there appeared the tops
of a few Trees like Oaks. They anxiously enquired if I saw
Woods. I told them what I had seen, and that with my old
JOURNEY TO MANDANE VILLAGES 213
Soldier I should guide myself by the Compass, and directly
proceed as the Woods were far off ; M^'Crachan and a
Canadian joined us ; the other six conferred among them-
selves what to do, they had no faith in the Compass on land,
and thought best to march in some direction until they
could see woods with their own eyes ; but had not proceeded
half a mile before all followed us, thinking there would be a
better chance of safety by being all together. The Gale of
Wind came on, and kept increasing. The Snow was four to
six inches in depth with a slight crust on it. We held on
almost in despair of reaching the Woods ; fortunately the
Dogs were well broken in, and gave us no trouble. Night
came upon us, and we had carefully to keep in file, at times
calling to each other to learn that none were missing. At
length at 7 pm, thank good Providence, we arrived at the
Woods, very much fatigued ; walking against the Storm was
as laborious as walking knee deep in water. We got up our
tent and placed ourselves under shelter. Although we had
taken six hours on this last course, yet I found by my
Observations we had come only thirteen miles.
December 6'*". A heavy westerly gale of wind with mild
weather. The Horses and Dogs as well as ourselves were
too much fatigued to proceed. Two Bison Bulls were
killed, though very tough, kept away hunger and fed the
Dogs.
December 7"". At 7 am Ther 25, only five degrees below
the freezing point, a fine mild day. We proceeded five miles
up the Mouse River to an old trading House, called " Ash
House " ^ from the plenty of those fine Trees ; it had to be
given up, from it's being too open to the incursions of the
Sieux Indians. Two Stone Indians came to us. They said
^ Thompson's survey places this post sixteen and a half miles south and
thirty-nine miles west of McDonnell's House, and his latitude is 40° 27'
32" N. It was probably near or opposite the village of Hartney in Mani-
toba, on the Canadian Northern Railway.
214 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
their camp was not far off. Mons' Jussomme's Mare and my
yellow Horse had both become lame of each one foot, and
could proceed no further through the Plains, each of these
Horses had one white foot and three black feet ; the white
foot of each was lame in the same manner, the hair of the
white foot was worn away by the hard snow, and a small
hole in the flesh also above the hoof. The three black feet
had not a hair off them. My other Horse was dark brown
with four black feet. As the Horses of this country have no
shoes, the colour of the hoof is much regarded ; the yellow
hoof with white hair is a brittle hoof and soon wears away ;
for this reason, as much as possible, the Natives take only
black hoofed Horses on their War expeditions. As the camp
of Stone Indians were going to the house of M"" John M'^Donell
to trade, we delivered the Horses to the care of an old Indian
to be taken to the house. Mons"" Jussomme was now without
a Horse and had to purchase Dogs.
December 8'*". 7 am Ther 18 below Zero. A cold day
which was employed in hunting, without success. I observed
for Latitude and Longitude
December 9'*^. 7 am Ther 26 below Zero. We went up
the River SW ']\ miles to eight tents of Stone Indians ;
who treated us with hospitality, and each of us got a good
meal. Learning that we were going to the Missisourie, they
warned us to beware of the Sieux Indians, whom they thought
would lie in wait for us at the Dog Tent Hills, and [to] keep
on our guard against a surprise. We offered a high reward
to a young man to guide us to the Mandane Villages, but
however tempting the offer, neither himself nor any other
would accept the offer. They plainly told us that we might
expect to find the Sieux Indians on our road ; and they were
not on good terms with the Mandanes. We went about
three miles and put up in view of the Turtle HiU. We are
near the place, where in 1794, fifteen Tents of Stone Indians
were destroyed by a large War Party of Sieux Indians,
JOURNEY TO MANDANE VILLAGES 215
although of the same Nation.^ From their own accounts,
some forty or fifty years ago a feud broke out, and several
were killed and wounded on both sides ; about five hundred
Tents separated from the main body, and took up their
hunting grounds on the Red River and the Plains stretching
north westward along the right bank of the Saskatchewan
River to within 300 miles of the Mountains, and being in
alliance and strict confederacy with the Nahathaways, who
accompanied them to war they were powerful, and with their
allies, made their brethren the Sieux Nation, feel the Weight
of their resentment for several years, until the small pox of
1782 came, which involved them all in one common calamity,
and very much reduced the numbers of all parties. The
Sieux had lost several of their men, who went to hunt but
did not return, and suspicion fell on the Stone Indians and
their allies. They determined on revenge, and the destruction
of these fifteen Tents was the result. The Sieux afterwards
found the loss of their Men was by the Chippaways, their
never ceasing enemies, and deeply regretted what they had
done ; the old Men made an apology, and proffered peace,
which was accepted in 181 2, and a reunion took place; and
in this Peace their allies and confederates were included ;
and which continues to this day.
December 10'^. 7 am Ther 20 below zero : The
hummock of Woods on the Turtle Hill, which was our mark,
gave our course by the compass S 30° E. As we had to cross
a plain of twenty two miles, and having felt the severe changes
of weather, I desired the Men to follow close in file, for
they now had faith in the Compass. At ji am our bit of
a caravan set off ; as the Dogs were fresh, we walked at a
good pace for some time, a gentle south wind arose ; and
kept increasing ; by 10 am it was a heavy Gale, with high
^ In his original notes, Thompson says that on December i6 they were
on the very spot where these fifteen tents of Assiniboin were killed " last
year."
216 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
drift and dark weather, so much so that I had to keep the
Compass in my hand, for I could not trust to the Wind.
By Noon, it was a perfect Storm, we had no alternative but
to proceed, which we did slowly and with great labor, for
the Storm was ahead, and the snow drift in our faces. Night
came on, I could no longer see the Compass, and had to trust
to the Wind ; the weather became mild with small rain, but
the Storm continued with darkness ; some of the foremost
called to lie down where we were, but as it was evident we
were ascending a gentle rising ground, we continued and
soon, thank good Providence, my face struck against some
Oak sapHngs, and I passed the word that we were in the
Woods, a fire was quickly made, and as it was on an elevated
place it was seen afar off : As yet the only one with me,
was my servant who led the Horse, and we anxiously awaited
the others ; they came hardly able to move, one, and then
another, and in something more than half an hour, nine had
arrived ; each with Dogs and Sleds, but one Man, and a
Sled with the Dogs were missing ; to search for the latter
was useless : but how to find the former, we were at a loss :
and remained so for another half an hour, when we thought
we heard his voice, the Storm was still rageing, we extended
ourselves within call of each other, the most distant man
heard him plainly, went to him, raised him up, and with
assistance brought him to the fire, and we all thanked the
Almighty for our preservation. He told us he became weak,
fell several times, and at length he could not get up, and
resigned himself to perish in the storm, when by chance
hfting up his head he saw the lire, this gave him courage ;
stand he could not but Qie] shuffled away on hands and
knees through the snow, bawling with all his might until we
fortunately heard him. We threw the Tent over some Oak
sapplings and got under shelter from showers of rain, hail
and sleet : At Ji pm Ther 36 being four degrees above the
freezing point ; by a south wind making in little more than
JOURNEY TO MANDANE VILLAGES 217
twelve hours a difference of temperature of fifty six degrees.
I had weathered many a hard gale, but this was the most
distressing day I had yet seen.
December ii"". At 8 am Ther 37, being five degrees
above the freezing point. A south gale with showers of snow ;
a mild day, but we were all too tired to proceed. A fine
grove of Aspins was within thirty yards, which the darkness
prevented us seeing ; we removed our Tent to it. The
Dogs and Sled missing belonged to Francis Hoole and the
value of sixty skins in goods, with all his things were on it,
but none would accompany him to look for it, although he
offered the half of all that was on it ; so much was the chance
of the similar distress of yesterday dreaded.
December iz'*". Ther 30 two degrees below the freezing
point. Wind a SSW gale. We went eight miles along the
north side of the Turtle Hill and put up. We were all very
hungry, and the Dogs getting weak ; we had seriously to
attend to hunting ; a small herd of Bulls were not far off,
and three of us went off to them, the two that were with me
were to approach by crawling to them, and if they missed, I
was to give chase on horseback, for which I was ready ; after
an hour spent in approaching them, they both fired, but
without effect, the herd started, I gave chase, came up with
them and shot a tolerable good Bull ; This is the usual
manner of hunting the Bison by the Indians of the Plains :
This gave us provisions for the present and the Dogs feasted
on the offall.
December 13"*. At 7 am Ther 15 below zero, clear
weather with a north gale and high drift ; we could not
proceed, but as usual in clear weather, I observed for Lati-
tude, Longitude and the Variation of the compass. We took
the case of Francis Hoole into consideration who had lost his
Dogs and all his venture ; and each of us agreed to give him
goods to the value of two beavers, and haul it for him, which
gave him a venture of eighteen skins, and the Irishman
218 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
M'^Crachan, and myself doubled it. For it was out of his
power to return alone.
December 14"". At 7 am Ther 18 below zero. At 8 am
set off, and kept along the Hill to shorten as much as possible
the wide Plain we have to cross to the Mouse River. We
proceeded in a SE course about seventeen miles ; and put
up, the day fine, though cold : As this was the last place
where Poles to pitch the Tent could be got, we cut the number
required of dry Aspin to take with us.
December 15'^. At 7 am Ther 21 below zero. Having
no provisions, part of the Men went a hunting, and managed
to kill an old Bull, who preferred fighting to running away ;
after boiling a piece of it for three hours, it was still too
tough to be eaten, but by those who have sharp teeth, the
tripe of a Bull is the best part of the animal.
December 16'^. At 7 am Ther 19 below zero. We could
go no further along the Turtle Hill, and had to cross a wide
Plain to a grove of Oaks on the Mouse River ; the wind
blowing a North Gale with drift, the Men were unwilling to
proceed having suffered so much, but as [the] wind was on
our backs I persuaded them to follow me, and at 8.20 am
we set [out], and safely arrived at the Grove ; our course
S by W nineteen miles. On our way we fortunately killed
a fat Cow Bison, which was a blessing, for we had not tasted
a bit of good meat for many days, and we had nothing else
to subsist on. In the evening our conversation turned on
the Sieux waylaying us : for we were approaching the Dog
Tent Hills, where we were to expect them, and our situation
with so many dogs and loaded sleds to take care of, was in a
manner defenceless, but we had proceeded too far to return,
my hopes lay in the lateness of the season, and the effects
the stormy weather must have on a War Party, who frequently
take no Tents with them : The last camp of Stone Indians
advised us to leave the usual road ; cut wood, and haul it
with us to make a fire for two nights, and boldly cross to the
JOURNEY TO MANDANE VILLAGES 219
Missisourie, which could be done in three days, but this was
too much dreaded to be followed. In the evening a very
heavy gale came on from the NW**. We were thankful that
we had crossed the Plain, and were well sheltered in a grove
of tall Oaks.
December 17'^. At 7 am Ther 22 below zero, at 9 pm
Ther 23 below zero. NW Gale with snow drift. Too cold
to proceed.
December 18'^. At 7 am Ther 32 below zero. 2 pm 7
below zero, too cold to proceed although a fine clear day.
We saw a herd of Cows about a mile from the tent, we
crawled to them, and killed three, then went to the tent,
harnessed the dogs to bring the meat. While we were
busy, a dreadful Storm came on, fortunately an aft wind,
had it been a head wind, we could not have reached the
Tent.
December 19"". At 7 am Ther 17 below zero. 9 pm
24 below zero. All day a dreadful Storm from the west-
ward, with high drift. The Sky was as obscure as night, the
roaring of the wind was like the waves of the stormy sea on
the rocks. . It was a terrible day, in the evening the Storm
abated. My men attributed these heavy gales of wind and
their frequency to the lateness of the season ; but this cannot
be the cause for no such stormy winds are known to the
westward ; here are no hills worth notice, all is open to the
free passage of the winds from every quarter ; for my part I
am utterly at a loss, to account for such violent winds on this
part of the Plains, and this may account for the few Bison
we have seen, and the smallness of the herds, which rarely
exceed twenty ; whereas to the westward, and near the
Mountains the ground is covered with them, and hitherto
we have not seen the track of the Deer, and even a Wolf is
a rare animal, as for Birds we have seen none : even the
long, strong winged Hawks are not known. What can be the
cause of these Storms, and the severe cold of this country.
220 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Our Latitude is now 48 . 9 . l6 North, Longitude 100 . 34 . 12
West, which ought to have a milder cHmate
December 20"". At 7 am ^ below zero. NNW breeze,
though very cold, yet a fine day. At 9^- am we set off, and
went up along the Mouse River, about South, thirteen
miles, and at 3-J- pm put up close to the River. The Woods
are of Oak, Ash, Elm and some other hard woods, mixed with
Poplar and Aspin but no Pines : When the grass is set on
fire in the summer, which is too often the case, all the above
woods, except the Aspin, have a thick coat of Bark around
them, to which the grass does Httle, or no injury ; but the
thin bark of the Aspin however slightly scorched prevents
the growth of the Tree, and it becomes dry, and makes the
best of fuel, having very Httle smoke.
December 21*'. A stormy morning with snow to 11 am
then clear and fine. We could not proceed as Hugh
M^'Crachan was taken ill. An old Bull was killed for the
Dogs. At 7 PM Ther 26 below zero.
December 22"**. At 7 am Ther 32 below zero, NW
breeze and clear, keen cold day. At S-J- am we set off, still
following up the River, SSW^ for fifteen miles and put up.
Where there are Woods along this River ; they are in narrow
ledges of forty, to one hundred yards in width. All the rest
are the boundless Plains.
December 23^*^. A cloudy, cold day, with snow until
noon, when it became fine and clear. We set off up along
the River SW twelve miles and camped : Three Men went
ahead to hunt, they killed four Bulls, no Cows in sight. We
have now plenty to eat, but very tough meat, so much so,
we get fairly tired eating before we can get a belly full. We
are now at the Elbow of the Mouse River ^ and can follow it
no farther ; as the River now comes from the northwestward
* The latitude given in Thompson's notes is 48° 9' 15" N. He must
have left the Souris river about the present site of the village of Villard,
in McHenry county, in North Dakota.
JOURNEY TO MANDANE VILLAGES 221
and is mostly bare of Woods. Although a small Stream of
fifteen yards in breadth, it has every where, like all the
Rivers of the Plains, double banks : the first bank is that
which confines the stream of water, and [is] generally about
ten to twenty feet in height ; then on each side is a level
of irregular breadth, generally called Bottom, of thirty to
six hundred yards in breadth, from which rises steep, grassy
sloping banks to the heights of sixty to one hundred feet
which is the common level of the Plain. Large rivers have
often three banks to the level of the Plain. It is in these
Bottoms that the Trees grow, and are sheltered from the
Storms : for on the level of the Plain, it is not possible a
tree can grow but v/here the Bottoms are wide enough, the
Trees come to perfection : here I measured Oaks of eighteen
feet girth, tall and clean grown, the Elm, Ash, Beach [Birch]
and Bass Wood,^ with Nut Trees were in full proportion. For
these Bottoms have a rich soil from the overflowing of the
River
December 24'''. Wind south, a steady breeze, with low
drift, fine mild weather. At Sf am we set off, and went
ESE i a mile to the heights of the River ; and in sight of
the Dog Tent Hill ;^ our course to a Ravine was S 48 W 19
miles ; across a plain, the ground was undulating in form,
without any regular valHes ; but has many knolls ; as we
approached the Hill, we anxiously kept our eyes on it, being
the place the Sieux Indians were to way lay us : About
2 PM I perceived something moving on the ridge of the hill,
and by my Telescope, saw a number of Horsemen riding to
the southward ; I made signs to the men to lie down which
they did, after watching their motions for about ten minutes ;
I saw plainly they did not see us, and rode descending the
west side of the Hill, and were soon out of sight ; thus kind
Providence, by the Storms, and lateness of the season saved
^ Tilia americana (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
' Now known as Dog Den Butte.
222 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
our lives and property.^ About a Month after, the Stone
Indians informed M"" M^'Donell, that the above with the want
of provisions were the occasion of their leaving the Hill ;
and they would return. From the eastward, the Dog Tent
Hill (by the Stone Indians Sungur Teebe) has the appear-
ance of an irregular bank of about 200 feet above the level of
the east Plains, in steep slopes of hard gravelly soil ; with
nine or ten gullies, or ravines, each has a small spring of
water, with a few Oak and Elm Trees in their bottoms ; we
put up at 4^- PM at the western spring and it's few trees of
Oak and Elm. At 7 pm Ther 15 below Zero.
December 26"*. 7 am Ther 76 below zero. Noon Ther 2,
at 8 PM 2 above zero. Early a terrible Storm arose from
SSW and raged all day ; the sound of the wind was like the
waves of the sea on a shoal shore. Joseph Houle killed a
good Cow but could only bring some of the meat on his back.
December 27*^. At 7 am Ther 5 at noon 20 at 9 pm 25
above zero. The day was clear with a heavy gale from WSW.
We could not proceed and had no success in hunting. We
cut fire wood to take with us ; for we had learned the Man-
danes and Pawnees, were hostile to each [other], and a large
Village of the latter was but a short distance below the
former, and it was to this Village we were journeying ; and
having very frequently conversed with Mess" Jussomme and
M'^Crachan, on the Roads, the customs and the manners of
the several Tribes of Indians of these countries I became
acquainted with what we had to expect ; in our defenceless
state I was determined to avoid any collision with the Natives
that were hostile to us. And with the consent of all the
Men, took the resolution, to come on the Missisourie River
several miles above the lower Mandane Village, and to do
this we had a march of two days across the open Plains.
December 28"'. At 7 am Ther 20 above zero. A fine
^ In his notes Thompson says that it was on December 28, after he had
left the Dog Tent Hill, that he saw these Indians.
JOURNEY TO MANDANE VILLAGES 223
clear mild day, thank God. At 7I am we set off taking fire-
wood and Tent poles with us, and proceeded S 40 W 22
miles and at 4^ pm, pitched our Tent to pass the night. The
ground we passed over is far from being level, and with six
inches of snow, made tiresome walking ; we saw but few
Bisons, and about an hour before we put up, saw ten or
twelve Horsemen far on our left. The night was fine.
December 29'''. A very fine mild day. At 7.20 am we
set off, and seeing the heights of the Missisourie, changed our
course to S 25 W 15 miles, to, and down, the heights of the
River ; and at 3-i- pm put up close to the Stream in a fine
bottom of hard wood. The country hilly, and tiresome
walking ; we lost much time, partly in viewing the country,
but more so in bringing back the Dogs from running after
the Bisons, of which there were many herds ; An old Bull
disdained to run away, but fortunately attacked the Sled,
instead of the Dogs, and would soon have had it in pieces,
had not the Men made him move off, run he would not.
About two miles from the River two Fall Indians came to
us, and killed a good Bull for us : The River is frozen over,
it's width 290 yards but the water is low. The woods the
same as those on the Mouse River, with Poplar, Aspin, and
Birch all of good growth.
December 30'*". A northerly gale with cloudy weather.
At 7.40 AM we set off and walked partly on the River ice,
and partly on the Bottoms S 6 E 6 miles to the upper Village
of the Fall Indians : S 27 E 7 miles to the principal Village
of these people. SE li mile to another Village, thence
S II E 2 miles to the fourth Village and S 55 E one mile to
the principal Village of the Mandanes.^
Thus from bad weather, we have taken thirty three days
^ These villages were stretched out for eleven and a half miles along
the banks of the Missouri river, the lowest and largest of them being in
latitude 47° 17' 22" N. This would place them between Stanton and
Hancock on the Northern Pacific Railway, in North Dakota. For further
information regarding these villages, see Coues, New Light.
224 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
to perform a journey of ten days in good weather, but [this]
has given me the opportunity of determining the Latitude
of six different places ; and the Longitude of three, on the
Road to the River. The distance we have gone over is
238 miles.
Three of the Men staid at the Fall Indian ^ Villages ; one
with Manoah a frenchman who has long resided with these
people ; the rest of us came to the great Village ; and at
different houses took up our quarters.
1 In his notes, Thompson speaks of these people as Willow Indians,
though he says that they were commonly called " flying Fall Indians."
Later, he evidently confuses them with the Fall or Atsina Indians, who
were in league with the Blackfeet.
CHAPTER XIV
MANDANES AND THEIR CUSTOMS
Chi f pew ay War — Meet the " Big White Man " — Five Villages
— Stockades — Form of Houses — Population — Weapons —
Manner of building houses — Furniture — Manoah — Farming
implements — Produce raised — Meals — Character — Law of
Retaliation and compounding by presents — Dress — Appear-
ance — Amusements — Curse of the Mandanes — Annual Cere-
mony among the Mandanes — Language of Fall Indians —
Fall Indians.
THE inhabitants of these Villages, have not been many-
years on the banks of the Missisourie River : their
former residence was on the head waters of the
southern branches of the Red River ; and also along it's
banks ; where the soil is fertile and easily worked, with their
simple tools. Southward of them were the Villages of the
Pawnees, with whom they were at peace, except [for] occa-
sional quarrels ; south eastward of them were the Sieux
Indians, although numerous, their stone headed arrows could
do Httle injury ; on the north east were the Chippeways in
possession of the Forests ; but equally weak until armed with
Guns, iron headed arrows and spears : The Chippaways
silently collected in the Forests ; and made war on the
nearest Village, destroying it with fire, when the greater part
of the Men were hunting at some distance, or attacking the
Men when hunting ; and thus harassing them when ever
they thought proper. The mischief done, they retreated into
the forests, where it was too dangerous to search for them.
The Chippaways had the policy to harrass and destroy the
225 p
226 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Villages nearest to them, leaving the others in security. The
people of this Village removed westward from them, and
from stream to stream, the Villages in succession, until they
gained the banks of the Missisourie ; where they have built
their Villages and remain in peace from the Chippaways, the
open Plains being their defence.
Mons' Jussome introduced me to a Chief called the " Big
White Man " ; which well designated him ; and told him I
was one of the chiefs of the white men, and did not concern
myself with trade, which somewhat surprised him, until told
that my business, was to see the countries, converse with the
Natives, and see how they could be more regularly supplied
with Arms, Ammunition and other articles they much
wanted : this he said would be very good ; as sometimes
they were many days without ammunition. Our things were
taken in, and to myself and my servant Joseph Boisseau, was
shown a bed for each of us. My curiosity was excited by the
sight of these Villages containing a native agricultural popula-
tion ; the first I had seen and I hoped to obtain much curious
information of the past times of these people ; and for this
purpose, and to get a ready knowledge of their manners and
customs Mess" Jussomme and M^Crachen accompanied me
to every Village but the information I obtained fell far
short of what I had expected ; both of those who accompanied
me, were illiterate, without any education, and either did not
understand my questions, or the Natives had no answers to
give. I shall put together what I saw and what I learned.
In company with those I have mentioned ; we examined the
Villages and counted the houses. The upper Village has
thirty one Houses and seven Tents of Fall Indians. The
Village next below, is called the Great Village of the above
people, it contains eighty two Houses, is situated on the
Turtle River, a short distance above it's confluence with the
Missisourie. The next Village has fifty two Houses, and is
also on the Turtle river ; This Village was the residence of
MANDANES AND THEIR CUSTOMS 227
Manoah. A few houses were of Fall Indians, the other
Houses were of Mandanes. The fourth Village was on the
right bank of the Missisourie, of forty houses of Mandanes.
The fifth and last Village contained one hundred and thirteen
houses of Mandanes. Except the upper village of the Fall
Indians, they were all strongly stockaded with Posts of Wood
of ten to twelve inches diameter ; about two feet in the
ground and ten feet above it, with numerous holes to fire
through ; they went round the Village, in some places close
to the houses ; there were two doorways to each of the
Stockades, on opposite sides ; wide enough to admit a Man
on Horseback. I saw no doors, or gates ; they are shut up
when required, with Logs of wood.
The houses were all of the same architecture ; the form
of each, and every one was that of a dome, regularly built ;
the house in which I resided, was one of the largest : the
form a circle, probably drawn on the ground by a line from
the centre ; On this circle was the first tier of boards, a few
inches in the ground, and about six feet above it, all incHning
inwards ; bound together on the top by circular pieces of
wood ; on the outside of about five inches, and on the inside
of about three inches in width ; and in these were also in-
serted the lower end of another set of boards of about five
feet in length ; and bound together on their tops in the
same manner ; but inclining inwards at a greater angle than
the lower tier ; and thus in succession, each tier the boards
were shorter, and more inclined inwards, until they were
met at the top, by a strong circular piece of wood of about
three feet diameter ; to which they were fastened ; and
which served to admit the Hght, and let out the Smoke :
The house in which I lodged was about fo rty feet in diameter ;
and the height of the dome about eighteen feet : On the
outside it was covered with earth in a dry state to the depth
of four or five inches, and made firm and compact. Every
house was covered in the same manner. Between each house
228 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
was a vacant space of fifteen to thirty feet. They appeared
to have no order, otherwise than each house occupying a
diameter of thirty to forty feet ; and a free space around it
of an average of twenty feet. On looking down on them, from
the upper bank of the River, they appeared Hke so many
large hives clustered together : From what I saw, and the
best information I could get, the average population of each
house was about ten souls. The houses of the Mandanes had
not many children, but it was otherwise with the Fall Indians :
the former may be taken at eight soul, and the latter, at ten,
to each House. This will give to the Mandanes for 190
houses, a population of 1520 souls ; of which they may
muster about 220 warriors. The Fall Indians of 128 houses,
and seven tents have a population of 1330 souls, of which
190 are warriors ; the whole mihtary force of these Villages
may be about 400 men fit for war. I have heard their force
estimated at 1000 men, but this was for want of calculation.
The native Arms were much the same as those that do
not know the use of Iron, Spears and Arrow headed with
flint ; which they gladly lay aside for iron ; they appear to
have adopted the Spear as a favorite weapon. It is a handle
of about eight feet in length, headed with a flat iron bayonet
of nine to ten inches in length, sharp pointed, from the point
regularly enlarging to four inches in width, both sides sharp
edged ; the broad end has a handle of iron of about four
inches in length, which is inserted in the handle, and bound
with small cords ; it is a formidable weapon in the hands of a
resolute man. Their Guns were few in proportion to the
number of Men for they have no supplies, but what are
brought to them by small parties of Men, trading on their
own account, such as the party with me ; we had ten guns,
of which the Men traded seven ; and parties of Men of the
Hudson's Bay Company in the same manner. They had
Shields of Bull's hide a safe defence against arrows and the
spear, but of no use against balls.
MANDANES AND THEIR CUSTOMS 229
They enquired how we buih our houses, as they saw me
attentively examining the structure of theirs ; when in-
formed ; and drawing a rough plan of our Villages, with
Streets parallel to each other, and cross Streets at right
angles, after looking at it for some time ; they shook their
heads, and said, In these straight Streets we see no advantage
the inhabitants have over their enemies. The whole of their
bodies are exposed, and the houses can be set on fire ; which
our houses cannot be, for the earth cannot burn ; our houses
being round shelter us except when we fire down on them,
and we are high above them ; the enemies have never been
able to hurt us when we are in our Villages ; and it is only
when we are absent on large hunting parties that we have
suffered ; and which we shall not do again. The Sieux
Indians have several times on a dark stormy night set fire to
the stockade, but this had no effect on the houses. Their
manner of building and disposition of the houses, is probably
the best, for they build for security, not for convenience.
The floor of the house is of earth, level and compact ; there
is only one door to each house, this is a frame of wood,
covered with a parchment Bison skin, of six feet by four
feet ; so as to admit a horse. To each door was a covered
porch of about six feet, made and covered like the door.
On entering the door, on the left sits the master of the house
and his wife ; on a rude kind of sofa ; covered with Bison
Robes ; and before is the fire, in a hollow of a foot in depth ;
and at one side of the fire is a vase of their pottery, or two,
containing pounded maize, which is frequently stirred with
a stick, and now and then about a small spoonful of fine ashes
put in, to act as salt ; and [this] makes good pottage ; when
they boil meat it is with only water ; and the broth is drank.
We saw no dried meat of any kind ; and their houses are not
adapted for curing meat by smoke for although the fire is on
one side of the house, and not under the aperture, yet there
is not the least appearance of smoke, and the light from the
230 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
aperture of the dome gave sufficient light within the house.
Around the walls, frame bed places were fastened, the bottom
three feet from the ground ; covered with parchment skins
of the Bison, with the hair on except the front, which was
open ; for a bed, was a Bison robe, soft and comfortable.
On the right hand side of the door, were separate Stalls for
Horses ; every morning the young men take the Horses to
grass and watch over them to the evening, when they are
brought in, and get a portion of maize : which keeps them in
good condition ; but in proportion to the population the
Horses are few : the Chief with whom I lodged had only
three.
They do not require so many Horses as the Indians of
the Plains who frequently move from place to place, yet even
for the sole purpose of hunting their Horses are too few.
We paid a visit to Manoah, a french Canadian, who had
resided many years with these people ; he was a handsome
man, with a native woman, fair and graceful, for his wife,
they had no children ; he was in every respect as a Native.
He was an intelligent man, but completely a Frenchman,
brave, gay and boastfull ; with his gun in one hand, and his
spear in the other, he stood erect, and recounted to the
Indians about us all his warlike actions, and the battles in
which he had borne a part, to all of which, as a matter of course,
they assented. From my knowledge of the Indian character,
it appeared to me he could not live long, for they utterly
dislike a boastful man. I learned that a few years after,
coming from a Skirmish, he praised his own courage and
conduct and spoke with some contempt of the courage of
those with him, which they did not in the least deserve, and
for which he was shot. As Manoah was as a Native with
them I enquired if they had any traditions of ancient times ;
he said, he knew of none beyond the days of their great,
great Grandfathers, who formerly possessed aU the Streams
of the Red River, and head of the Mississippe, where the
MANDANES AND THEIR CUSTOMS 231
Wild Rice, and the Deer were plenty, but then the Bison
and the Horse were not known to them : On all these streams
they had Villages and cultivated the ground as now ; they
lived many years this way how many they do not know, at
length the Indians of the Woods armed with guns which
killed and frightened them, and iron weapons, frequently
attacked them, and against these they had no defence ; but
were obliged to quit their Villages, and remove from place
to place, until they came to the Missisourie River, where our
fathers made Villages, and the Indians of the Woods no longer
attacked us ; but the lands here are not so good, as the land
our fathers left, we have no wild rice, except in a few Ponds,
not worth attention. Beyond this tradition, such as it is I
could learn nothing. They at present, as perhaps they have
always done, subsist mostly on the produce of their agri-
culture ; and hunt the Bison and Deer,* when these animals
are near them. They have no other flesh meat ; and the
skins of these animals serves for clothing. The grounds they
cultivate are the alluvials of the River, called Bottoms. The
portion to each family is allotted by a council of old Men,
and is always more than they can cultivate, for which they
have but few implements. The Hoe and the pointed Stick
hardened in the fire are the principal.
They have but few Hoes of iron ; and the Hoe in general
use is made of the shoulder blade bone of the Bison or Deer,
the latter are preferred ; they are neatly fitted to a handle,
and do tolerable well in soft ground.
The produce they raise, is mostly Maize (Indian Corn) of
the small red kind, with other varieties all of which come to
perfection, with Pumpkins and a variety of small Beans.
Melons have been raised to their full size and flavor. Every
article seen in their villages were in clean good order, but the
want of iron implements Hmits their industry ; yet they
raise, not only enough for themselves, but also for trade with
^ Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque). [E. A. P.]
232 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
their neighbours. We brought away upwards of 300 pounds
weight. In sowing their seed, they have to guard against
the flocks of Rooks/ which would pick up every grain, and
until the grain sprouts, out, parties of Boys and girls during
the day are employed to drive them away. During the day
they appear to have no regular meals ; but after day set the
evening meal is served with meat ; at this meal, several are
invited by a tally of wood, which they return, each brings
his bowl and rude spoon and knife ; the meat is boiled ;
roasting of it would give a disagreeable smell ; which they
are carefuU to prevent, allowing nothing to be thrown into
the fire, and keeping the fireplace very clean. The parties
invited were generally from seven to ten men ; women are
never of the party, except the Wife of the master of the house,
who sometimes joined in their grave, yet cheerful conversa-
tion. Loud laughter is seldom heard.
Both sexes have the character of being courteous and kind
in their intercourse with each other ; in our rambles through
the villages everything was orderly, no scolding, nor loud
talking : They look upon stealing as the meanest of vices,
and think a Robber a far better man than a Thief. They have
no laws for the punishment of crime, everything is left to
the injured party, the law of retaliation being in full force.
It is this law which makes Murder so much dreaded by them,
for vengeance is as likely to fall on the near relations of the
murderer, as on himself, and the family of the Relation who
may have thus suffered, have now their vengeance to take ;
Thus an endless feud arises ; to prevent such blood shed,
the murderer, if his Hfe cannot be taken, for he frequently
absconds ; the old men attempt to compound for the crime
by presents to the injured party, which are always refused,
except they know themselves to be too weak to obtain any
other redress. If the presents are accepted the price of blood
is paid, and the injured party has no longer any right to take
^ Probably the Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm. [E. A. P.]
MANDANES AND THEIR CUSTOMS 233
the life of the criminal. This law of Retaliation, and com-
pounding by presents for the life of the murderer, when
accepted, appears to be the invariable laws with all the
Natives of North America.
The dress of the Men is of leather, soft and white. The
covering for the body is like a large shirt with sleeves, some
wear the Bison leather with the hair on, for winter dress ;
with a leather belt ; the leggins of soft white leather, so long
as to pass over the belt ; their shoes are made of Bison, with the
hair on ; and always a Bison Robe. The Women's dress is
a shirt of Antelope or Deer leather, which ties over each
shoulder, and comes down to the feet, with a belt round the
waist short leggins to the knee, and Bison Robe shoes, the
sleeves separate, in which they looked well. Both Men and
Women are of a stature fully equal to Europeans ; and as
fair as our french Canadians ; their eyes of a dark hazel, the
hair of dark brown, or black, but not coarse : prominent nose,
cheek bones moderate, teeth mouth and chin good ; well
Hmbed ; the features good, the countenance mild and in-
telHgent ; they are a handsome people. Their amusements
are gambling after the manner of the Indians of the Plains.
They have also their Musicians and dancing Women ; In
the house of the Chief, in which I staid, every evening, about
two or three hours after sunset, about forty or fifty men
assembled. They all stood ; five or six of them were
Musicians, with a drum, tambour, rattle, and rude flutes ;
The dancing women were twenty four young women of the
age of sixteen to twenty-five years. They all came in their
common dress ; and went into a place set apart for them to
dress ; and changed to a fine white dress of thin Deer skins,
with ornamented belts, which showed their shapes almost as
clearly as a silk dress.
They formed two rows of twelve each, and were about
three feet apart ; The musicians were in front of the Men,
and about fourteen feet from the front row of the Women.
234 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
When the music struck up, part of the Men sung, and the
Women keeping a straight Hne and respective distance, danced
with a light step and slow, graceful motion towards the
Musicians, until near to them when the music and singing
ceased ; the Women retired in regular line, keeping their
faces towards the Musicians. A pause of three or four minutes
ensued, the music struck up, and the dance renewed in the
same manner ; and thus in succession for the time of about
an hour. Each dance lasted about ten minutes. There was
no talking, the utmost decorum was kept ; the Men all
silently went away ; the dancing Women retired to change
their dress. They were all courtesans ; a sett of handsome
tempting women. The Mandanes have many ceremonies, in
all of which the women bear a part but my interpreter treated
them with contempt ; which perhaps they merited.
The curse of the Mandanes is an almost total want of
chastity : this, the men with me knew, and I found it was
almost their sole motive for their journey hereto : The goods
they brought, they sold at 50 to 60 p"" cent above what they
cost ; and reserving enough to pay their debts, and buy
some corn ; [they] spent the rest on Women. Therefore we
could not preach chastity to them, and by experience they
informed me that siphylis was common and mild. These
people annually, at least once in every summer, have the
following detestable ceremony, which lasts three days. The
first day both sexes go about within and without the Village,
but mostly on the outside, as if in great distress, seeking for
persons they cannot find, for a few hours, then sit down and
cry as if for sorrow, then retire to their houses. The next
day the same is repeated, with apparent greater distress
accompanied with low singing. The third day begins with
both sexes crying (no tears) and eagerly searching for those
they wish to find, but cannot ; at length tired with this
folly ; the sexes separate, and the Men sit down on the ground
in one line, with their elbows resting on their knees, and their
MANDANES AND THEIR CUSTOMS 235
heads resting on their hands as in sorrow ; The Women
standing and crying heartily, with dry eyes, form a line
opposite the Men ; in a few minutes, several Women advance
to the Men, each of them takes the Man she chooses by the
hand, he rises and goes with her to where she pleases, and
they He down together. And thus until none remain, which
finishes this abominable ceremony. No woman can choose her
own husband ; but the women who love their husbands lead
away aged Men. Mess"^ Jussomme and M'^Crachan said they
had often partaken of the latter part of the third day ; and
other men said the same. Manoah strongly denied that
either himself, or his wife had ever taken part in these rights
of the devil.
The white men who have hitherto visited these Villages,
have not been examples of chastity ; and of course reHgion
is out of the question ; and as to the white Men who have
no education, and who therefore cannot read, the little
religion they ever had is soon forgotten when there is no
Church to remind them of it.
Fall Indians who also have Villages, are strictly confederate
with the Mandanes, they speak a distinct language ; and it is
thought no other tribe of Natives speak it : very few of the
Mandanes learn it ; the former learn the language of the
latter, which is a dialect of the Pawnee language. The Fall
Indians are now removed far from their original country,
which was the Rapids of the Saskatchewan river, northward
of the Eagle Hill ; A feud arose between them, and their
then neighbours, the Nahathaways and the Stone Indians
confederates, and [they were] too powerful for them, they
then lived wholly in tents, and removed across the Plains to
the Missisourie ; became confederate with the Mandanes,
and from them have learned to build houses, form villages
and cultivate the ground ; The architecture of their houses
is in every respect the same as that of the Mandanes, and their
cultivation is the same : Some of them continue to live in
236 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
tents and are in friendship with the Chyenne Indians, whose
village was lately destroyed, and now live in tents to the
westward of them. Another band of these people now dwell
in tents near the head of this River in alliance with the
Peeagans and their allies ; The whole tribe of these people
may be estimated at 2200 to 2500 souls. They are not as
fair as the Mandanes ; but somewhat taller. Their features,
like those of the plains have a cast of sterness, yet they are
cheerful, very hospitable and friendly to each other, and to
strangers. What has been said of the Mandanes may be said
of them ; except in regard to Women. The Fall Indians
exact the strictest chastity of their wives ; adultry is punish-
able with death to both parties ; though the Woman escapes
this penalty more often than the man : who can only save
his life by absconding which, if the woman does not do, she
suffers a severe beating, and becomes the drudge of the family.
But those living in the Villages I was given to understand have
relaxed this law to the man in favor of a present of a Horse,
and whatever else can be got from him. As they do not
suffer the hardships of the Indians of the Plains, the Men are
nearly equal to the Women in number, and few have more
than two wives, more frequently only one. It always
appeared to me that the Indians of the Plains did not regard
the chastity of their wives as a moral law, but as an unalien-
able right of property to be their wives and the mothers of
their own children ; and not to be interfered with by another
Man. The morality of the Indians, may be said to be founded
on it's necessity to the peace and safety of each other, and
although they profess to believe in a Spirit of great power,
and that the wicked are badly treated after death ; yet this
seems to have no effect on their passions and desires. The
crimes they hold to be avoided are, theft, treachery arid
murder.
Christianity alone by it's holy doctrines and precepts, by
it's promises of a happy immortahty, and dreadful punish-
MANDANES AND THEIR CUSTOMS 237
ments to the wicked, can give force to morality. It alone can
restrain the passions and desires and guide them to fulfil the
intentions of a wise, and benevolent Providence. As the
Missisourie River with all it's Villages and population are
within the United States, it is to be hoped Missionaries will
soon find their way to these Villages, and give them a know-
ledge of Christianity, which they will gladly accept.
CHAPTER XV
RETURN JOURNEY TO M^DONELL'S
HOUSE ON MOUSE RIVER
Missisourie River — Start on return journey — Return journey —
Reach Trading House in safety — Encounter of Trading
Party with the Sieux — Hugh M'Crachan — Death of Hugh
M'^Crachan — Route from Stone Indian River House to
Villages of the Mandanes.
HAVING made the necessary astronomical observa-
tions we prepared to depart ; the latitude of the
Upper Village (Fall Indians) was found to be
47 . 25 . II North. Longitude loi .21 .5 West of Greenwich.
The lower Village (Mandanes) Latitude 47 . 17 . 22 North.
Long*^' loi . 14. 24 W. Variation of the Compass ten degrees
east. In the language of the natives, Missisourie means,
" the great troubled, or muddy, River," from the great
quantity of sediment it contains. Everywhere this river has
bold banks, often steep, and mostly of earth. Above the
banks the soil appears hard and dry the bottoms rich and well
wooded. From the Mountains to it's confluence with the
Mississippe, following it's course is 3560 miles. The whole
distance is a continuous River, without meeting, or forming,
a single Lake ; with very strong current. This River drains
a area of 442,239 square miles.
We now set off, our caravan consisted of thirty one Dogs,
loaded with furrs of Wolves and Foxes, with meal and corn ;
238
JOURNEY TO M^DONELL'S HOUSE 289
and two Sieux Indian women which the Mandanes had taken
prisoners, and sold to the men, who, when arrived at the
Trading House would sell them to some other Canadians.
My Horse I left with my Host, and bought two stout Dogs
to haul our luggage and provisions. Our march, as usual,
commenced with flogging the Dogs, and swearing at them
in the intervals ; my old soldier, who on going out, had only
Horses to take [care] of, and used to reprove them, now he
had Dogs could swear and flog as well as any of them. A
council had been held ; as the Articles brought to them was
by no means sufficient to supply their wants, to send a small
party to the Trading House, get a knowledge of the Road,
make sure friends of the Stone Indians and see the stock of
Goods in the Trading Houses ; Accordingly a Chief in the
prime of life, called the White Man, with four young men
were selected, and came with us, and also an old man and his
old wife, each of the latter carrying a bag of meal for their
provisions. They said they were anxious to see the Houses of
the White Men before they died ; and when told they were
both too weak to perform the journey, they said their hearts
were strong, but by the time they had ascended the heights
of the river they were convinced they were too weak and
returned. Mons" Jussomme and myself spoke to the Chief
of the extreme hazard of such a small party escaping their
enemies ; and that if they wished to have a direct trade
with us, they must form a party of at least forty men with
.Horses, and come when the Snow was not on the ground ;
that even among the Stone Indians, who are friendly, there
were bad men enough, on seeing such a small party, that
would plunder them ; and they had all better return. He
said, we do not know the country ; we are too few, and I
will return, the young men belong to another Village, and
they will do as they please. After fourteen days on our
return and suffering excessive bad weather, two of the
Mandane young men returned ; the other two continued
240 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
with us. On the first day of February we came to eight
Tents of Stone Indians, in the same place as [when] we went ;
they treated the two Mandanes with great kindness. We
told them we had returned by the usual route, as the Man-
danes assured us there was no danger ; they said we had not
acted wisely, for the good weather will bring the Sieux to
the Dog Tent Hills, you have narrowly escaped, for we are
sure they are now there. We killed very few Bisons and
lived as much on Corn as on Meat.
We continued our Journey and on the third day of
February (1798) we arrived at the Trading House of the
North West Company from whence we set out, thankfull to
the Almighty for our merciful preservation. We have been
absent sixty eight days. The next day M^ Hugh M^Crachan
and four men with an assortment of goods for trade set off
for the Mandane Villages, and the two Mandane young men,
to whom M*" M^Donell made several presents, which highly
pleased them.
I strongly advised them all not to follow the usual route,
carefully to avoid the Dog Tent Hill, and follow the route
by which we went to the Missisourie, and which the Stone
Indians also strongly advised ; This they all promised to do,
and set off. The weather being fine, Canadian like, who
believe there is no danger until they are involved in it ; they
took the usual route, and at the campment of the Dog Tent
Hills found the Sieux lying in wait for them ; they fell on
them and killed two of the Canadians and one of the Man-
danes, and the others would have shared the same fate, had
they not begun quarrelling about the plunder of the goods.
The Mandane got safe to his Village, and Hugh M'^Crachan
and the two men returned to the House, in a sad worn out
condition, the humanity of some Stone Indians saved their
lives, or they must have perished with hunger. In the
following summer as M"" Hugh M'^Crachan was on his usual
trading journeys to the Mandanes, he was killed by the
JOURNEY TO M^DONELL'S HOUSE 241
Sieux Indians.^ Our road from the Village of the Mandanes
to the Stone Indian River House, following from Woods to
Woods for fuel and shelter are to the Dog Tent Hill [which]
is N 28 E 50 miles ; thence to the Elbow of the Mouse River
N 49 E 20 miles ; thence to Turtle Hill south end N 28 E 56
miles, thence along the Hill N 9 W 14 miles ; thence to the
Ash House on the Mouse River N 3 W 24 miles ; thence to
the House of M' M'=Donell N 69 E 45 miles. But a straight
line between the two extreme points is N 26 E 188 miles.
The whole of this country may be pastoral, but except in
a few places, cannot become agricultural. Even the fine
Turtle Hill, gently rising, for several miles, with it's Springs
and Brooks of fine Water has very little wood fit for the
Farmer. The principal is Aspin which soon decays : with
small Oaks and Ash. The grass of these plains is so often on
fire, by accident or design, and the bark of the Trees so often
scorched, that their growth is contracted, or they become
dry : and the whole of the great Plains are subject to these
fires during the Summer and Autumn before the Snow lies
on the ground. These great Plains appear to be given by
Providence to the Red Men for ever, as the wilds and sands
of Africa are given to the Arabians.
It may be enquired what can be the cause of the violent
Storms, like Hurricanes which, in a manner desolate this
country, when such Storms are not known to the westward.
No assignable cause is known ; there are no Hills to impede
it's course, or confine it's action. What are called Hills, are
gentle rising grounds, over which the Winds sweep in full
freedom. And the same question may be asked of certain
parts of the Ocean.
My time for full three weeks was employed in calculating
^ Thompson was probably mistaken in making this statement, for
Hugh McCraken appears to have been alive when Lewis and Clark and
Alexander Henry visited the Mandan villages in 1804 and 1806 re-
spectively.
Q
242 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the astronomical observations made to, and from, the Missi-
sourie River ; and making a Map of my survey, which, with
my journal was sealed up, and directed to the Agents of the
North West Company, By a series of observations this Trading
House is in Latitude 49 .40. 56 North, and Longitude 99. 27 . 15
West. Variation 11 degrees E'.
CHAPTER XVI
JOURNEY DOWN THE STONE INDIAN
AND UP THE RED RIVER
Leave M^DoneWs House — Melting snow — Arrive at Red River
— Chippezuay Customs — Ascend the Red River — Prairie
Fires — Salt Brooks — Trading Post Settlements — Cadotte^s
House — Baptiste Cadotte — Chippeway Camp — Return to
Cadotte^s House.
ON the zG^ day of February (1798) I took leave of
my hospitable friend M"" John M"^Donell, who
furnished me with everything necessary for my
Journey of survey. With me were three Canadians and an
Indian to guide us, and six dogs hauling three Sleds loaded
with Provisions and our baggage. Our Journey was down
the Stone Indian River, sometimes on the Ice of the Stream,
but on account of it's windings, mostly on the North Side ;
cutting off the windings as much as possible ; In the afternoon
we came to the Manito Hills, they are a low long ridge of sand
knowls, steep on the west side, but less so on the east side ;
they have a very little grass in a few places, no snow lies on
them all winter, which is the reason the Natives call them
Manito ; or preternatural. Except the Sand Ridge, the
country we have come over is very fine, especially the junction
Z_oi the Mouse River which is about i-J- mile below the House :
the woods were of Oak, Ash, Elm, Bass Wood, Poplar,
Aspin and a few Pines having small Plains and Meadows
(short and long grass) .-^ In the evening we put up : and as
^ Their camp this evening (February 26) was at Old Pine Fort, or
Fort Epinette, which Thompson says in his notes had been forsaken
243
244 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
usual had to melt snow to make water to drink and cook our
supper. To melt Snow into well tasted water requires some
tact. The Kettle is filled with Snow packed hard, it is then
hung over the fire, and as it melts it is with a small stick
bored full of holes to the bottom to lessen the smoky taste.
several years. It was situated on the north side of the Assiniboine river,
in the north-east quarter of Sect. 36, Tp. 8, R. 14, west of the Principal
Meridian, about eight miles southward from Carberry Junction on the
Canadian Northern Railway. Daniel Harmon in his Journal says that
Pine Fort was built in 1785, and abandoned in 1794 ; and Alexander
Henry the younger states that it was abandoned when the fort at the
mouth of the Souris was built. It was an important post. John McDon-
nell describes it as the lowest house of the North- West Company at that
time, and says that the Mandans and Gros Ventres came there from the
Missouri to trade. He also states that it was abandoned in 1794, because
Donald McKay of the Hudson's Bay Company had built a post at the
mouth of the Souris river the previous year, and it was necessary to move
up beside him. On Peter Pond's map of 1790 there is the note: " Here
upon the Branches of the Missury live the Maundiens, who bring to our
Factory at Fort Epinitt [Pine Fort], on the Assinipoil River, Indian com
for sale. Our people go to them with loaded horses in twelve days."
When the site was visited by the editor in July, 1890, evidences of
the existence of the fort could be distinctly traced, north of the river on
a level grassy flat which breaks off towards the stream in a steep-cut bank
twenty feet high. To the north the ground rises in several poplar- covered
terraces to the main bank of the valley, which is a mile and a half distant,
while to the south, across the shallow river, is a low bottom land a mile
wide. The position of the old fort had been largely washed away by the
river, but the back line, and part of the two end lines of the stockade,
could be clearly followed as a trench in which were the butts of spruce
posts about four inches in diameter which had been driven into the ground.
The north side of the stockade was 56 paces long, while of the east and
west ends respectively only lengths of 15 and 13 paces remained, the rest,
with the whole of the front, having been washed away by the river. At
the north-east corner there had been a bastion 8 feet square, beneath which
was an entrance to the enclosure. Just within the eastern end of the
enclosure was a pit 3 feet in diameter and 26 inches deep, filled with
charred bones and wood. The main feature of the enclosure was a large
mound 11 paces in diameter and 2 feet high, with a pit in the middle
6 paces in diameter and 2 feet deep. This doubtless marked the position
of a house, some of the timbers of which were still projecting from the
bank. At two of the corners piles of stones showed where chimneys had
stood. Eight paces west of the enclosure, and just on the edge of the bank,
was a large shallow pit.
JOURNEY DOWN THE STONE INDIAN 245
When it becomes water the taste is disagreeable with smoke,
but in this state it readily quenches thirst, and for such is
often drank ; to clear it of smoke the water is made to boil
for a few minutes which clears it of the smoke. Snow is
then put in, until it is cold, and the water is well tasted and
fit for use. We continued our journey day after day,^ the
Snow increasing every day in depth ; and to beat the path
for the Dogs and Sleds became very tiresome work ; the
Snow Shoes sunk six inches every step of the foremost man,
our Guide every day became so fatigued I had to relieve him
for two or three hours.
On the seventh of March we arrived at it's junction with
the Red River in Latitude 49 . 53 . i N. Longitude 97 . o . o
West Variation 9 degrees East.^ The straight course is
N 82 E 112 statute miles ; to perform which we walked
169 miles. But the windings of the River is treble the former
distance, and more. An Indian compared the devious course
of the River to a Spy, who went here and there, and every-
where, to see what was going on in the country. The whole
1 On March 2, Thompson passed Old Poplar Fort, which was one of
the oldest trading posts established by the English traders from Canada
on the Assiniboine river. Thompson's notes place it on the north bank
of the river about the middle of a straight reach three miles long, and five
miles above the Meadow Portage. It was probably in Sect. 6, Tp. 11,
R. 7, west of the Principal Meridian. Alexander Henry the younger says
that it was abandoned in the autumn of 1781, after it had been attacked
by Indians, and three of its defenders had been killed.
Five miles below the site of Poplar House was the south end of the
Meadow Portage to Lake Manitoba, just below a willow-covered island
in the river. This place, on which the city of Portage la Prairie is now
built, is one of the famous places in the history of the western fur trade.
It was here that La Verendrye, having ascended the river until the water
became too shallow to allow him to go farther, built, in the autumn of
1738, Fort La Reine, which continued to be one of the chief trading posts
of the French in the west until the cession of Canada to Great Britain.
After that the place was occupied from time to time by traders of the
North-West and Hudson's Bay Companies, until it was finally abandoned
by the latter company in 1870.
"^ The correct latitude and longitude of the mouth of the Assiniboine
river are 49° 53' N. and 93° 9' W.
246 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of this country appeared fit for cultivation, and for raising
cattle. The climate is as mild as Montreal in Canada, which
[is] 4-i- degrees south of this River : The Woods as we
descended the River were less in size and height ; especially
the Oak. We saw but a few animals, a few Red Deer, and a
chance small herd of Bisons, for those animals avoid deep
snow.
Hitherto we have been on the hunting grounds of the
Nahathaway Indians ; who possess this River, and all to the
eastward, and to the northward as far as the latitude of
56 degrees north. The Red River, and all the country-
southward and the upper Mississippe, and countries eastward
to, and all, Canada, are the hunting grounds of the Chippa-
ways (or Oojibaways). Part is aheady occupied by civiHzed
men, and the greatest part of their territories will in time be
in the hands of those that cultivate the soil. They are a
large, scattered tribe of the primitive Nahathaways, and
speak a close dialect of their language, which they have
softened as they live, comparatively, in a mild climate ; their
countr}'- is different in soil and it's productions which renders
them less dependent on hunting : The dark extensive forests
of the north, give food, shelter, and comparative security to
the Moose, the Rein Deer, and other wild animals, and
exercise the sagacity and industry of the Hunter. Of all
the Natives, these people are the most superstitious, they may
be accounted the religionists of the North. As they have no
Horses, and only Dogs for winter use and not many of these
to haul their things in winter, they have very few tents of
leather. They are mostly of rush mats neatly made, some-
times of Birch Rind, or Pine Branches, always low, and
seldom comfortable. As soon as mild weather comes on,
they live in Lodges, which are long, in proportion to the
number of families. Strong poles are placed on triangles for
the length required, about six or seven feet high, the front
looks to the south, and is open, the back part is formed of
JOURNEY DOWN THE STONE INDIAN 247
poles about three feet apart, in a sloping position, resting on
the ground, and on the ridge pole, covered with Birch Rind,
sometimes rush mats, and pine branches. In summer they
all use Canoes and in winter the flat Sled ; in this season the
women haul, or carry heavy loads, and the men also take
their Share. They are well made for hunting and fatigue,
they are more fleshy than their neighbours, and their skin
darker. These are the people of whom writers tell so many
anecdotes, as they are better known to the Whites than any
other tribe ; they are naturally brave, but too much given
to revenge : and although they exact fideHty from their
wives, rarely punish with death ; the woman is sometimes
punished by the husband biting off the fleshy part of the
nose ; the Women declare it to be worse than death, as it is
the loss of their beauty, and for the rest of life a visible mark
of crime and punishment. But this barbarous act, is very
rarely inflicted but when the man is drunk.
On the f^ day of March we began the survey of the Red
River, and continued to the 14''' of March, when we arrived
at the Trading House of the North West Company, under
the charge of Mons"" Charles Chaboiller,^ who gave us a kind
reception. Our journey for the last eight days, has been
most wretched traveling : the Snow was full three feet deep ;
the ice of the River had much water on it, from the mild
weather with small showers of rain, or wet snow.
On the River, the mixture of snow and water which
stuck to the Sleds, made it impossible for the Dogs to haul
them, and it often required two of us to extricate Sleds with
the assistance of the Dogs, and every thing had to be dried
in bad weather. To beat the Road was a most laborious
work, the ankles and knees were sprained with the weight of
wet snow on each Snow Shoe, for the Snow was not on firm
ground, but supported by long grass. I had to take his
1 For an account of Chaboillez, see Elliott Coues, New Light,
p. 60.
248 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
place, and tying a string to the fore bar of each snow shoe,
and the other end in my hand, with my gun slung on my
back, and thus lifting my snow shoes, marched on ; We
journeyed on the west side of the River ; the whole distance
was meadow land, and no other Woods than sapHngs of Oak,
Ash and Alder. From the many charred stumps of Pines it
was evident this side of the River was once a Pine Forest. In
the more northern parts, where Pine Woods have been
destroyed by fire, Aspins, Poplars and Alders have sprung up,
and taken the place of the Pines ; but along this, the Red
River, from the mildness of the climate, and goodness of the
soil. Oak, Ash, Alder, and Nut Woods have succeeded the Pines.
This change appears to depend on soil and climate ; for
in the high northern latitudes, where in many places there is
no soil, and the Pines spread their roots over the rocks, Pine
grounds, when burned, are succeeded by Pines ; for Aspins
Poplars and Alders require some soil. Along the Great
Plains, there are very many places where large groves of
Aspins have been burnt, the charred stumps remaining ; and
no further production of Trees have taken place, the grass of
the Plains covers them : and from this cause the Great
Plains are constantly increasing in length and breadth, and
the Deer give place to the Bison. But the mercy of Provi-
dence has given a productive power to the roots of the grass
of the Plains and of the Meadows, on which the fire has no
eflFect. The fire passes in flame and smoke, what was a lovely
green is now a deep black ; the Rains descend, and this odious
colour disappears, and is replaced by a still brighter green ;
if these grasses had not this wonderful productive power on
which fire has no effects, these Great Plains would, many
centuries ago, have been without Man, Bird, or Beast.
We crossed several Brooks of salt water, which come from
ponds of salt water on the west side of the River, one, or two
of these are so strongly impregnated, that good salt is made
of the water by boiling ; the meat salted with it, is well
JOUKNEY DOWN THE STONE INDIAN 249
preserved, but somewhat corroded. On the 12'*" we came
to four Lodges of Chippaways, they had killed two poor
Bulls, of which we were glad to get a part, and the next day
two of them came with us, which relieved us from the fatigue
of beating the road. At this trading Post I stayed six days,
making astronomical observations which determined this place
to be in Latitude 48° 58' 24" north Longitude 97° iG 40" W
of Greenwich Variation Si degrees East. This House is
therefore one minute and thirty six seconds in the United
States ; the boundary Line between the British Dominions
and the Territories of the United States being the forty
ninth parallel of north Latitude from the Lake of the Woods
/^ to the east foot of the Rocky Mountains.^ I pointed out the
Boundary Line to which they must remove ; and which
Line, several years after was confirmed by Major Long of
the corps of Engineers, on the part of the United States.
From the junction of the Stone Indian with this, the Red
River, the course is S iij W 65 J statute miles, but to the
Boundary Line 64 miles. The number of Men that now
trade at this house are 95, which at seven souls for each man,
(rather a low average), gives 665 souls. And at the Rainy
River House, which lies in Latitude 48 . 36 . 5 8 N Longitude
93 . 19 . 30 W. in a course S 82 E 184 miles. The Chippaways
who trade at this house are 60 men, giving an average of
420 souls : By the extent of their hunting grounds each
' family of seven souls, has 150 to 180 square miles of hunting
ground, and yet [they] have very little provisions to spare ;
this alone is sufficient to show the ground does not abound in
wild animals. The Beaver has become a very scarce animal ;
the soil and climate not requiring the same materials for his
House, become a more easy prey. During the Summer these
Natives subsist on fish, and in Autumn, part of them on wild
rice.
^ The boundary extended to the watershed range of the Rocky Moun-
tains, and not to the east foot, as is here stated.
250 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
The Woods about this House are Oak, Ash, Ehn and
Nut Woods, the Oaks of fine growth, tall and straight. The
largest of these measured ten feet girth at six feet above the
ground. In the hollows of the decayed Trees, the Racoons ^
take shelter, they are not found to the northward : they are
a fat animal, and like all other animals that feed on Nuts,
their fat is oily ; without the skin and bowels, the weight of
one is about fifteen pounds. They lay up nothing for the
winter, and are dormant during the cold weather. The Red
River is here 120 yards in width. Eleven miles below this
the Reed River from the eastward falls in, it's width is about
the same, but not so deep. This part of the River is called
Pembina, from a small Stream that comes in. As this River
has a rich deep soil and [is] everywhere fit for cultivation, it
must become a pastoral and agricultural country, but for
want of woods, for buildings and other purposes, must be
limited to near the River. The open Plains have no Woods
and afford no shelter. Note. Twenty years after this (1798)
Several Canadians who had married native women with their
families first settled, and they were soon joined by the
Servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, who had done the
same, with their families. This settlement rapidly increased
it's population, and now (1848)^ numbers about 5000 souls.
The great draw back on this fine Settlement is the want of
a Market ; York Factory in Hudson's Bay, is apparently their
Market, but the distance is too great, being N 24 E 606 miles
on a straight line, and the devious route they would have to
follow cannot be less than 900 miles. In this distance there
are many Carrying Places, over which every thing must be
carried ; such a journey with their products would require
the greater part of the short summer of these countries ; and
leave the Farmer no time for the cultivation of his ground.
1 Procyon lotor (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
* The date here inserted is interesting, as it determines the year in
which Thompson wrote this portion of his memoirs.
JOURNEY DOWN THE STONE INDIAN 251
It would be a journey of toil, hard labor and suffering, and
night and day devoured by Musketoes and other flies. Hence
York Factory cannot be a market for the Red River. The
extra produce of this river cannot find a Market at Montreal,
the distance is too great, and the obstacles too many, and too
laborious to be overcome. Nor can a market be found on
the Mississippe, to get to the head of this River is a tedious
route with many Carrying Places. In time civilisation will
advance to them by this River, but until then the Red River
must remain an isolated Settlement.
Here in the Latitude of 49 degrees, the Snow, clear of
drift, is three to three and a half feet in depth ; and in the
Latitude of 58 degrees north the Snow has the same depth ;
but falls dry as dust, it adheres to nothing, and a cubic foot
of well packed snow, when melted, yields only two inches of
water. But in the former latitude, a cubic foot of well packed
snow when melted, yields from four to five inches of water.
Hence the northern Rivers, on the melting of the Snow, are
not much affected, the Snow yields but little water, and the~
frosts of every night check its quantity. But to the south-
ward, the Rivers overflow from the quantity of water con-
tained in the Snow, and the thaw being more steady with
greater warmth.
On the 21'' March we proceeded on our journey^ and on
the 25'^ arrived at the trading House of the North West
Company under the charge of Mons"" Baptiste Cadotte.
The Weather was fine, and at night the frost made the Snow
firm for several hours of the day. Our journey was along
^ After travelling S. io° E, ten and a half miles up the west side of
Red river, Thompson passed an old house which had formerly been occu-
pied by a trader named Grant. After travelling S. lo" E. thirty-five miles,
he reached the trading-post of a trader named Roy or Le Roy, which he
places in latitude 48* 23' 34" N., five and a half miles south of Salt river.
On the morning of March 23, he crossed to the east side of Red river, and
went overland to the house of Baptiste Cadotte on the bank of Red Lake
river, where the Clearwater river joins it, in latitude 47" 54' 21", on the
site now occupied by the town of Red Lake Falls.
252 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the Red River ; in some places there were fine Ledges of
Woods along the River, of moderate width, from thirty to
three hundred yards ; they were of Oak, Ash, Elm, Bass and
other woods. As we ascended, the Aspin became more
frequent. The whole a fine rich deep soil. About fifteen to
twenty miles westward are the Hair Hills ; of gentle rising
grounds, with groves of Wood in places. At the east foot of
these Hills are the low grounds with Ponds of salt water,
and from which several Brooks come into the Red River.
The Deer and Bisons are very fond of the grass of these
places, which appears to keep them in all seasons in good
condition
Mr Baptiste Cadotte^ was about thirty five years of age.
He was the son of a french gentleman by a native woman, and
married to a very handsome native woman, also the daughter
of a Frenchman : He had been well educated in Lower
Canada, and spoke fluently his native Language, with Latin,
French and English. I had long wished to meet a well
educated native, from whom I could derive sound informa-
tion for I was well aware that neither myself, nor any other
Person I had met with, who was not a Native, were sufficiently
masters of the Indian Languages. As the season was ad-
vancing to break up the Rivers, and thaw the Snow from oif
the ground, I enquired if he would advise me to proceed any
farther with Dogs and Sleds : he said the season was too far
advanced, and my further advance must be in Canoes ; my
last wintering ground was the Rein Deers Lake ^ in Latitude
57 . 23 North which Lake was frozen over to the 5'** day of
July, when it broke up by a gale of wind, and hitherto having
been confined to northern chmes, I was anxious to see the
workings of the climate of 48 degrees north, aided by the
* For brief notes on Baptiste Cadotte and his father, see Coues, New
Light, pp. 929-30.
^ The previous winter had been spent at Bedford House, on the west
side of Reindeer lake, and the weather had been very severe, even for
that northern locaHty.
JOURNEY DOWN THE STONE INDIAN 253
influence of the great, and warm Valley of the Mississippe,
which was near to us. I shall therefore give a few days in
the form of a journal.
March 27'^. A fine morning. At 6i- am we set off and
went up along the River thirteen Miles, through Willows,
small Birch and Aspins : with a few Oak and Ash in places ;
to 2 PM when we came to seven Tents of Chippeways and to
Sheshepaskut (Sugar) the principal Chief of the Chippeway
Tribe ; he appeared to be about sixty years of age, and yet
had the activity and animated countenance of forty. His
height was five feet, ten inches. His features round and
regular, and his kind behaviour to all around him, and to
strangers, concealed the stern, persevering Warrior, under
whose conduct the incursions of the Sieux Indians were re-
pressed, and the Village Indians driven to the Missisourie :
We stopped at his Tent, as usual we were well received ; he
thought the season too much advanced but would send a
Guide with us the morrow.
The Snow was thawing and wet, very bad walking. On
my Journey to the Missisourie I had two Thermometers ;
On my return, on a stormy night, one got broke, and the one
remaining I had carefuUy to keep for my astronomical observa-
tions, so that I can only give the weather in general terms.
March 28'^. The night was mild, and the Snow still
wet. At 5^ AM the Guide came, and we advanced about
four miles, when our Guide took care to break his Snow Shoes,
and went back to the Tents, and in the evening the Chief
sent me another Guide ; but we had to put up and wait all
day. The Chippeways had killed a black Bear,^ but on coming
to our campment, they were so tired with heavy walking,
they left the meat with us, until they returned. Three
Geese ^ were seen and at 8 pm Lightning, Thunder and Rain
came on, the latter during the whole night.
^ Ursus americanus Pallas. [E. A. P.]
2 Branta canadensis (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
254 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
March 29'''. Rain continued until noon ; The Snow was
now so mixed with water, that we could not proceed. In
the evening Rain came on and continued. Every thing was
wet, without a chance of drying our clothes and baggage.
March 30"". Showers of Hail and Sleet. With the Guide
went to examine the country before us : which appeared like
a Lake, with water. I had therefore to return to M'
Cadotte and wait [for] the Rivers to become clear of ice,
which was now too weak to venture upon^ Our order of
march was each of us carrying upon his back pvhat] the water
could injure, every step, from ancle to the knee in snow
water ; the Dogs dragging the Sleds floating in the water.
Swans, Geese and Ducks were about ; but [of] the Eagles
and large Hawks which to the northward are the first to
arrive, none were seen :
On the 31". After three hours march, at the rate of one
mile an hour ; we became too fatigued, laid down our loads,
and with one man light we went to the house to get help,
bad as the River was, we ventured on it ; like desperate men ;
my companion fell through three times, and I escaped with
only once ; the water was only three feet deep, and we carried
a long light pole in each hand. At 2 pm thank good Provi-
dence, we arrived at the house of Mr Cadotte who directly
sent off five men to bring every thing to this place. Here a
few days has thawed three and a half feet to three feet of
heavy snow, which in the Latitide of 57 or 58 degrees north,
require five, or six weeks of Hngering weather.
CHAPTER XVII
LIFE AT CADOTTE'S HOUSE
Wahhino Dance — Home oj Wahhino Singers — End of Wahbino
Craze — Man Eater — Weetogo — Sheshepaskufs story of the
war with the Chyennes — Suicide of a Sieux woman prisoner —
Massacre of Chippeways.
WE had now to wait the River becoming clear of ice,
and get a Canoe in order for our voyage. In the
mean time I collected some information on the
Religion and Ceremonies of these people. I learned that of
late a superstition had sprung up, and was now the attention
of all the Natives. It appeared the old Songs, Dances, and
Ceremonies by frequent repetition had lost all their charms,
and reHgious attention ; and were heard and seen with
indifference : some novelty was required and called for ; and
these people are the leaders of the Tribe in superstition and
ceremonies. Accordingly two, or three crafty chiefs, con-
trived to dream (for all comes by Dreams) after having passed
some time in a sweating cabin, and singing to the music of
the Rattle. They dreamed they saw a powerful Medicine,
to which a Manito voice told them to pay great attention
and respect, and saw the tambour with the figures on it, and
also the Rattle to be used for music in dancing : They also
heard the Songs that were to be sung : They were to call it
the Wahbino : It was to have two orders ; the first only
Wahbino the second Keeche Wahbino ; and those initiated
to bear the name of their order, (fool, or knave) Every
thing belonging to the Wahbino was sacred, nothing of it to
touch the ground, nor to be touched by a Woman.
256 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Under the guidance of the Wahbino sages, Tambours
were made, the frame circular of eight inches in depth and
eighteen inches diameter, covered with fine parchment ; the
frame covered with strange figures in red and black, and to
it were suspended many bits of tin and brass to make a gingling
noise ; the Rattle had an ornamented handle ; and several
had Wahbino Sticks, flat, about three feet or more in length,
with rude figures carved and painted : The Mania became
so authoritative that every young man had to purchase a
Wahbino Tambour ; the price was what they could get
from him : and figured dances were also sold ; the Knaves
were in their glory, admired and getting rich on the credulity
of others, but there were several sensible Men among them,
who looked with contempt on the whole of this mumery : it
was harmless, and since there must be some foolery, this was
as harmless as any other, I asked the old Chief, what he
thought of it ; he gave me no answer, but looked me full in
the face, as much as to say, how can you ask me such a
question. I was present at the exhibition of a Wahbino
dance : A Keechee Wahbino Man arrived, he soon began to
make a speech to the great power of the Wahbino, and to
dance to his Song. He seated himself on the ground, on
each hand, a few feet from him, sat two men, somewhat in
advance ; the Dancers were five young men naked, and
painted, above the waist : I sat down by one of the two
Men ; the Wahbino Man began the Song in a bold strong
tone of voice, the Song was pleasing to the ear ; the young
Men danced, sometimes slowly, then changed to a quick step
with many wild gestures, sometimes erect, and then, to their
bodies being horizontal : shaking their Tambours, and at
times singing a short chorus. They assumed many attitudes
with ease, and showed a perfect command of their limbs.
With short intervals, this lasted for about an hour. I watched
the countenance of the Indian next to me, he seemed to
regard the whole with sullen indifference ; I enquired of him,
LIFE AT CADOTTE'S HOUSE 257
" what was the intent and meaning of what I had seen and
heard " ; With a smile of contempt By what you have seen,
and heard ; they have made themselves masters of the
Squirrels Musk Rats and Racoons, also of the Swans, Geese,
Cranes and Ducks : their Manito is weak. " Then all these
are to be in abundance." " So they say, but we shall see."
" What becomes of the Bison, the Moose and Red Deer.
With a look of contempt ; Their Manito's are too powerful
for the Wahbino. I found that several of the Indians looked
on the Wahbino as a jugglery between knaves and fools : yet
for full two years it had a surprising influence over the Indians,
and too frequently [they] neglected hunting for singing and
dancing. About two hours after the exhibition, an Indian
arrived with twenty two Beaver Skins to trade necessaries for
himself and family, he was a Man in the prime of Hfe. The
Knave of a Keeche Wahbino made a speech to him on the
powerful effects of the Great Wahbino Song, and which he
directly sang to him.
The Song being ended ; the Indian presented him
eighteen Beaver Skins, reserving only four for himself, for
these he traded ammunition and tobacco, and [kept] nothing
for his wife and family ; and the Knave seemed to think he
was but barely paid for his song and ought to have been paid
the twenty two Beaver Skins. I enquired of M"" Cadotte, if
he could interpret to me the Song we had just heard : he
repHed, that although they spoke in the language of his
native tongue, he did not understand a single sentence of
the Song, only a chance word, which was of no use.
We both had the same opinion, that they have a kind of
a mystical language among themselves, understood only by
the initiated, and that the Wahbino Songs, were in this
mystical language : that novelty had given it a power, which
it would soon lose ; he remarked that almost all the Wahbino
singers, were idle Men and poor hunters. This foUy spread
to a considerable distance, and the Lake of the Woods became
258 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
it's central place. Several lodges, containing forty or fifty
families, living more by fishing than hunting, became
enamoured of the Wahbino Song and Dance, and so many
dancing together they too often became highly excited and
danced too long. One of them made a neat drum for him-
self ; on which he placed strings of particular bones of small
animals, as mice, squirrels and frogs, with strings of the bones
and claws of small birds : and on beating the drum as the
strings of bones changed positions, pretended to tell what
was to happen. These Lodges were now encamped at the
sortie of the Rainy River into the Lake of the Woods, on a
fine, long, sandy Point on the left side of the River : long
poles were tied from tree to tree, on which were carefully
hung the Wahbino Medicine Bag and Tambour of each Man.
On this Point the North West Canoes camped, when a
gale of wind was on the Lake. The Lake was in this state in
1799, when we arrived, and we put up : aboat 10 am. At
noon by double Altitude I observed for Latitude,
While doing so, an Indian of my acquaintance, came and
sat dov/n. When I was done, looking at the parallel glasses
and quicksilver, he said. My Wahbino is strong. I knew that
his meaning was to say, By what you are doing, you give to
yourself great power, my Wahbino can do the same for me.
I told him the Great Spirit alone was strong, your Wahbino
is Hke this, taking up a pinch of sand and letting it fall. He
then said the Sun is strong ; My answer was, the Great Spirit
made the Sun, at this he appeared surprised and went away.
The next morning the Gale of Wind continued ; the
Indian came to me, and said, yesterday you despised my
Wahbino, and I have thrown it away.
In the night the Gale had thrown down the Pole to which
the Tambour and Medicine Bag was tied ; and the Dogs
had wetted them ; he was indignant, and took the gun to
shoot the Dogs, but his good sense prevented him ; and
looking at his Tambour and Medicine Bag with contempt.
LIFE AT CADOTTE'S HOUSE 259
exclaimed " If you, the Wahbino had any power, the Dogs
would not have treated you as they have done." Other
Tambours were in the same condition, the news of this
accident spread, the sensible men took advantage of it, and
by the following summer nothing more was heard of the
Wahbino Medicine.
I called to M' Cadotte's attention a sad affair that had
taken place a few months past on the shores of the Lake of
the Woods. About twenty families were together for hunting
and fishing. One morning a young man of about twenty
two years of age on getting up, said he felt a strong inclination
to eat his Sister ; as he was a steady young man, and a pro-
mising hunter, no notice was taken of this expression ; the
next morning he said the same and repeated the same several
times in the day for a few days. His Parents attempted to
reason him out of this horrid inclination ; he was silent and
gave them no answer ; his Sister and her Husband became
alarmed, left the place, and went to another Camp. He
became aware of it ; and then said he must have human
flesh to eat, and would have it ; in other respects, his behaviour
was cool, calm and quiet. His father and relations were
much grieved ; argument had no effect on him, and he
made them no answer to their questions. The Camp became
alarmed, for it was doubtful who would be his victim. His
Father called the Men to a Council, where the state of the
young man was discussed, and their decision was, that an evil
Spirit had entered into him, and was in full possession of him
to make him become a Man Eater (a Weetego). The father
was found fault with for not having called to his assistance a
Medicine Man, who by sweating and his Songs to the tambour
and rattle might have driven away the evil spirit, before it
was too late. Sentence of death was passed on him, which
was to be done by his Father. The young man was called,
and told to sit down in the middle, there was no fire, which
he did, he was then informed of the resolution taken, to which
260 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
he said " I am willing to die " ; The unhappy Father arose,
and placing a cord about his neck strangled him, to which
he was quite passive ; after about two hours, the body was
carried to a large fire, and burned to Ashes, not the least bit
of bone remaining. This was carefully done to prevent his
soul and the evil spirit which possessed him from returning
to this world ; and appearing at his grave ; which they
beHeve the souls of those who are buried can, and may do,
as having a claim to the bones of their bodies. It may be
thought the Council acted a cruel part in ordering the father
to put his Son to death, when they could have ordered it
by the hands of another person. This was done, to prevent
the law of retaliation ; which had it been done by the hands
of any other person, might have been made a pretext of
revenge by those who were not the friends of the person
who put him to death. Such is the state of Society where
there are no positive laws to direct mankind.
From our exploring notes ; it appeared to us that this
sad evil disposition to become Weetego ; or Man Eaters,
was wholly confined to the inhabitants of the Forests ; no
such disposition being known among the Indians of the Plains ;
and this limited to the Nahathaway and Chippeway Indians,
for the numerous Natives under the name of Dinnae
(Chepawyans) whose hunting grounds are all the Forests
north of the latitude of 56 degrees, have no such horrid dis-
position among them.
The word Weetego is one of the names of the Evil Spirit
and when he gets possession of any Man, (Women are wholly
exempt from it) he becomes a Man Eater, and if he succeeds ;
he no longer keeps company with his relations and friends,
but roams all alone through the Forests, a powerful wicked
Man, preying upon whom he can, and as such is dreaded by
the Natives. Tradition says, such evil Men were more
frequent than at present, probably from famine. I have
known a few instances of this deplorable turn of mind, and
LIFE AT CADOTTE'S HOUSE 261
not one instance could plead hunger, much less famine as
an excuse, or cause of it. There is yet a dark chapter to be
written on this aberration of the human mind on this head.
The Chief, Sheshepaskut, with a few men arrived, with a
few Beaver Skins and Provisions ; I enquired of him, the
cause of his making war on the Chyenne Indians and destroy-
ing their Village, and the following is the substance of our
conversation. Our people and the Chyenne's for several
years had been doubtful friends ; but as they had Corn and
other Vegetables, which we had not and of which we were
fond, and traded with them, we passed over and forgot, many
things we did not like ; until lately ; when we missed our
Men who went a hunting, we always said, they have fallen by
the hands of our enemies the Sieux Indians. But of late
years we became persuaded the Chyennes were the people,
as some missing went to hunt where the Sieux never came ;
We were at a loss what to do ; when some of our people
went to trade Corn, and while there, saw a Chyenne Hunter
bring in a fresh Scalp, which they knew, they said nothing,
but came directly to me. A Council was called, at which
all the Men who had never returned from hunting were
spoken of by their relations ; and it was determined the
Chyenne Village must be destroyed : As the Geese were
now leaving us, and Winter [was] at hand, we defered to
make war on them until the next Summer ; and in the mean-
time we sent word to all the men of our tribe to be ready and
meet us here when the berries are in flower. Thus the
winter passed ; and at the time appointed we counted about
one hundred and fifty men. We required two hundred, but
some of the best hunters could not come, they had to hunt
and fish for the families of the warriors that came. We made
our War Tent, and our Medicine Men slept in it ; their
Dreams forbid us to attack them until the Bulls were fat ;
the Chyenne's would then leave their Village weak to hunt
and make provisions. To which we agreed.
262 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
The time soon came, and we marched from one piece of
Woods to another, mostly in the night until we came to the
last great Grove that was near to the Village. Our Scouts
were six young men. Two of them went to a small Grove
near the Village, and climbing up the tallest Oaks, saw all
that passed in the Village and were relieved every morning
and evening by other two.
We thus passed six days, our provisions were nearly done,
and we did not dare to hunt. Some of our men dreamed we
were discovered and left us. On the seventh morning, as we
were in council, one of the young men who were on the watch
came to us, and gave us notice that the Chyennes had col-
lected their Horses and brought them to the Village. We
immediately got ourselves ready and waited for the other
young man who was on the Watch ; it was near mid day
when he came and informed us that a great many men and
women had gone off a hunting, and very few remained in
the Village. We now marched leisurely to the small Grove
of Oaks to give the hunting party time to proceed so far as
to be beyond the sound of our Guns. At this Grove we
ought to have remained all night and attack the next morning ;
but our Provisions were done, and if they found the Bisons
near ; part of them might return ; From the Grove to the
Village was about a mile of open plain ; as we ran over, we
were perceived, there were several Horses in the Village on
which the young people got, and rode off.
We entered the Village and put every one to death, except
three Women ; after taking every thing we wanted, we
quickly set fire to the Village and with all haste retreated for
those that fled at our attack would soon bring back the whole
party, and we did not wish to encounter Cavalry in the
Plains.
Here the old Chief lighted his pipe, and smoked in a
thoughtful manner. M"" Cadotte then took up the narrative.
Those left in charge of the village were twelve Men of a
LIFE AT CADOTTE'S HOUSE 268
certain age, and as there was no time to scalp them in the
manner they wished, their heads were cut off, put into bags ;
with which, and the prisoners, they marched through the
Woods to the camp near the Rainy River. Here they re-
counted their exploits, and prepared for a grand war dance
the next day : which accordingly took place. One of the
three Women prisoners was a fine steady looking woman with
an infant in her arms of eight months, which they in vain
tried to take from her. Each time she folded it in her arms
with desperate energy, and they allowed her to keep it.
The war circle being made by the Men, their Wives and
Children standing behind them, the three prisoners were
placed within the war circle ; the heads taken were rolled
out of the bags on the ground : and preparatory to their
being scalped, the whole circle of Men, Women, and Children
with tambours rattles and flutes, shouted the War whoop,
and danced to the song of Victory. The prisoner Woman
with her infant in her arms did not dance, but gently moved
away to where the head of her husband was lying, and catch-
ing it up, kissed it and placed it to the lips of her infant ;
it was taken from her and thrown on the ground ; a second
time she seized it, and did the same ; it was again taken from
her, and thrown on the ground ; a third time she pressed the
head of her husband to her heart, to the lips of herself and
child ; it was taken from her with menace of death : holding
up her infant to heaven, she drew a sharp pointed Knife
from her bosom, plunged it into her heart ; and fell dead on
the head of her husband. They buried her, and her infant
was taken to, and brought uji at, the Rainy River House.
The old Chief still smoking his pipe, said the Great
Spirit had made her a Woman, but had given her the heart
of a Man.
Our discourse then turned on the Sixty Seven souls. Men
Women and Children that two springs ago were destroyed by
the Sieux Indians at the Sand Lake of the Mississippe where
264 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
they were making Sugar ; The Chief repHed that he did not
know what to say to it ; it was a bad affair and they longed
to revenge it : but they in a manner brought it on them-
selves. For several years there had been no regular war
between us, they had left the Woods, made very little use of
Canoes, and having many Horses were living in the Plains
and had we waited, would have left the whole of the Woods
to us. The Sand Lake was finely wooded with large Maples,
which had never been tapped ; this tempted our people,
they went and made a great deal of Sugar ; this did for once,
and the Sieux took no notice of it ; but when they returned
the next spring, this was making that Lake their own, the
Sieux did not care for it, but would not allow it to be taken
from them. They formed a war party and so completely sur-
prised our people, that not one escaped, and the enmity
that was dying away between us is now as bad as ever. While
they keep the Plains with their Horses we are not a match
for them ; for we being foot men, they could get to windward
of us, and set fire to the grass ; When we marched for the
Woods, they would be there before us, dismount, and under
cover fire on us. Until we have Horses like them, we must
keep to the Woods, and leave the plains to them.
On conversing with these Chippaways they all readily
understood me, though frequently I did not understand them,
and M" Cadotte had to interpret between us. He also ex-
pressed his surprise that they should understand me, which
he did not ; they replied, we understand him because he
speaks the language of our Fathers, which we have much
changed and made better. On comparing the Nouns and
Verbs of the primitive language of the Nahathaways with the
Chippaway dialect, the greatest change appeared in con-
stantly rejecting the " th " of the former for the " y " of the
latter, as for Kether (you) Keyer — for Neether (me) Neeyer —
for Weether (thou) Weeyer ; and softening a great number
of others, rejecting some and substituting others, and giving
LIFE AT CADOTTE'S HOUSE 265
to the whole a more sonorous sound as best adapted to their
oratory. The dialects of the primitive language extend to the
Delaware River ; and the Delaware Indians speak a dialect of
the primitive language.
By astronomical observations this House is in Latitude
47 . 54 . 21 N. Longitude 96 . 19 W Variation 10 degrees East.
The course of this River is from the south westward until it
is lost in the Plains, the groves are at a considerable distance
from each other, by no means sufficient for the regular
Farmer, but may become a fine pastoral country, but without
a Market, other than the inhabitants of the Red River.
CHAPTER XVIII
DISCOVER THE SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE
Another start — Clear Water River — Carrying Place oj Red
Lake River — Spearing Fish — Arrive at Turtle Lake —
Birds — Wild Rice — Otter — Turtle Lake.
THE Rivers becoming clear of ice, a Birch Rind Canoe
of eighteen feet in length, by three feet in breadth
was made ready ; and on the ninth day of April
with three Canadians, and a native Woman, the Wife of one
of the Men, and twelve days provisions in dried meat. We
set out to survey the country to the source of the Mississippe
River : We had the choice of two Rivers, that direct from
the Red Lake ; the current moderate, but liable to be en-
cumbered with ice from the Lake, or the Clear Water River
of swift current : without any ice ; we preferred the latter,
and proceeded slowly up it. This River was fifty five yards
in width by about eight feet in depth, from the melting of
the Snow. But as all these Rivers are fed by Snow and
Rains, in the months of August and September this River's
depth will not exceed one or two feet. Although the
country appears a perfect level the current ran at the rate of
full four miles an hour. The River was too deep, to anchor
our ticklish Canoe, but seeing a piece of Wood on the middle
of the River I left the Canoe and walked as fast as I could,
yet the current carried the wood faster than I walked.
On the eleventh we passed the junction of the Wild Rice
River from the westward, with a body of water equal to half
266
DISCOVER SCOURGE OF MISSISSIPPE 267
this River, and we have now less water with more moderate
current. On the twelfth we arrived at the Carrying Place
which leads to the Red Lake River, having come sixty four
miles up this sinuous River. The east side, or right bank
had fine Forests, but as we advanced, the Aspin became the
principal growth of the Woods. The West Bank had patches
of hard wood trees, with much fine meadow which led to
the Plains, the whole a rich deep soil.
The Carrying Place is four miles in length of part marsh
and part good ground to the Bank of the Red Lake River,
in Latitude 48 . o . 55 N Longitude 95 . 54 . 28 W.^ Variation
10° East.
Our course was now up this River to the Red Lake, a
distance of thirty two miles. Both banks of this River well
timbered with Oak, Ash and other hard Woods, intermixed
with much Aspin and Poplar. A rich deep soil, but now from
the melting of the Snow every where covered with water, the
country so level, that only a chance bit of dry bank was to
be seen ; At night we cut down Trees and slept upon them.
As our provisions were dried meat we did not require fire to
cook our supper, and a Canadian never neglects to have
touchwood for his pipe. By Observations the head of the
River on the banks of the Lake, is in Latitude 47 . 58 . 15 N.
Longitude 95 . 35 • 37 W The straight course and distance
from M" Cadotte's House is, N 82 E 35 miles, to perform
which we have gone over 117 Statute miles and employed
seven long days, setting off at 5 am and putting up at 7 pm.
At the Lake the kind old Chief, Sheshepaskut with six
Lodges of Chippeways were camped. He gave us three pickerel
and two large pike, a welcome change from dried meat. As
they had no Canoe, and therefore could not spear fish in the
night, they requested the loan of mine, which was lent to
them. The spearing of fish in the night, is a favorite mode
^ This is the position given in Thompson's notes for the north end of
the portage.
268 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
with them, and gives to them a considerable part of their
Hvelihood. The spear handle is a straight pole of ten to
twelve feet in length, headed with a barbed iron ; A rude
narrow basket of iron hoops is fixed to a pole of about six
feet in length. A quantity of birch rind is collected and
loosely tied in small parcels. When the night comes, the
darker the better, two Men and a Boy embark in a Canoe,
the one gently and quietly to give motion to the Canoe.
The pole and basket is fixed in the Bow under which the
Spearman stands, the Birch Rind is set on fire, and burns
with a bright light ; but only for a short time, the Boy from
behind feeds the Hght, so as to keep a constant blaze. The
approach of the flaming Hght seems to stupify the fish, as they
are all speared in a quiesent state. The Lake or River is
thus explored for several hours until the Birch Rind is
exhausted, and on a calm night a considerable number is
thus cai:^ht. Those in my canoe, speared three Sturgeon,
each weighing about sixty pounds. For a clear water Lake
they were very good ; for the Sturgeon may be called the
Water Hog, and is no where so good and fat as among the
alluvials of Rivers. This, the Red Lake is a fine sheet of
Water of about thirty miles in length by eight to lo miles
in breadth ; the banks rise about twenty to thirty feet, the
soil is somewhat sandy and produces Firs of a fine growth,
with the other usual woods, and in places, the white Cedar
but of short growth. This Lake like several other places,
has occasionally a trading House for one Winter only, the
country all around, being too poor in furrs to be hunted on
a second winter. The Lake being covered with ice, and
patches of water, at places we paddled the Canoe, and where
the ice was firm, made a rude Sledge on which we placed the
Canoe and Baggage, and hauled it over the ice to a patch of
water and thus continued for seventeen miles ; a laborious
work and always wet, the weather frequent showers of Rain
and Sleet, and then clear weather. We now came to a
DISCOVER SCOURGE OF MISSISSIPPE 269
Carrying Place of six miles in length, in a south direction,
over which we carried our Canoe and things.
The Road was through Firs and Aspins, with a few Oaks
and Ash. Near the middle of the Carrying Place the Ground
had many ascents and descents of twenty to forty feet, the
first we have seen since we left the Red River. By 9 pm on
the 23'''* of April we had carried all over, and now had to
cross the country to the Turtle Lake,^ the head of the Missis-
sippe River at which we arrived on the 27'^. Our Journey
has been very harassing and fatigueing ; from Pond to Pond
and Brook to Brook with many carrying places, the Ponds,
or small Lakes were some open, others wholly or partly
covered with ice ; the Brooks so winding, that after paddHng
an hour we appeared to have made very little, or no advance.
The country everywhere appeared low and level, some-
thing Hke an immense swamp. Everywhere there was much
wild rice,'^ upon which the wild fowl fed, and became very fat
and well tasted ; The Swan was a very rare bird ; and of the
different species of Geese, [there were] only two species of
the Grey Goose ; ^ but the Ducks [were found] in all their
varieties : the Cranes * and Bitterns ^ upon their usual food
were equally good ; of the Plover species there were but few,
the Ponds having their low banks covered with long grass.
In some Ponds there were Pelicans ^ and Cormorants,' the
former as disgusting as usual. The large spotted Loons ^ were
^ In Thompson's notes there is this reference to Turtle brook : " This
is the source of the famous Mississippi river in the most direct Hne. All
the other little sources are reckoned to be subordinate to this, as they are
longer in forming so considerable a stream. The brook that furnishes
water to this lake comes in on the right hand, from the south bay of the
Turtle Lake." The latitude of Turtle lake is given as 47° 38' 21" N.
2 Zizania aquatica (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
^ Branta canadensis (Linn.) and B. c. hutchinsi (Rich.). [E. A. P.]
*■ Grus (perhaps more than one species). [E. A. P.]
5 Boiaurus lentiginosus (Montagu). [E. A. P.]
* Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmel. [E. A. P.]
' Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson). [E. A. P.]
* Gavia immer (Brunn.). [E. A. P.]
270 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
in every Pond that was open ; this wily Bird, as soon as he
saw us set up his cry, and was at a loss whether to fly or
dive. For the latter the ponds were too shoal and full of
rice stalks ; and before he could raise his flight he had to
beat the water with Wings and Feet before he could raise
himself. This exposed them to our shots, and we killed
several of them. Their beautiful spotted skins make favorite
Caps for the Natives, and two Canoes of Chippaways being
in company were thankful to get them. It is very well known
that at Churchill Factory in Hudson's Bay in Latitude
58 . 47 . 32 N Longitude 94 . 13 . 48 West, in the spring wild
grey geese are killed with wild Rice in their stomachs ; on
which they must have fed near the Turtle Lake in Latitude
47-39-^5 ■'^ Longitude 95 . 12 . 45 W, the direct distance be-
tween the two places is N 3 E 780 statute miles. Wild Rice,
but not in any quantity, so as to feed numerous flocks of
Geese, grow in places near the Latitude of 50 degrees north,
but even from these few places the distance to Churchill
Fort will be about 660 miles. The wild rice grows in great
plenty all round the Turtle Lake, allowing this Lake to be
their centre. The Ponds, Brooks, Rivulets and small Lakes in
which the wild Rice grows in abundance occupies an extent
of area of at least six thousand square miles. It is a weak
food, those who live for months on it enjoy good health, are
moderately active, but very poor in flesh : The Wild Geese,
before a Gale of Wind fly at the rate of sixty miles an hour,
which at this rate requires thirteen hours from their rice
ground to take them to Churchill Fort. (Note. Conversing
with Surgeon Howard of Montreal on the great distance the
Wild Geese fly without digesting the rice in their stomachs,
he related to me an experiment of the late D"" John Hunter on
digestion. He had two grey hounds. One morning he fed
them both with the same quantity and quality of Meat ; the
one he tied up, and [it] remained quiet aU day ; and with
the other he hunted all day : about sunset they were both
DISCOVER SCOURGE OF MISSISSIPPE 271
killed. On examining the hound that was tied up, the Meat
was wholly digested ; but in the stomach of the hound that
had hunted all day the meat was but little changed. Thus it
appears that animals on a rapid march do not digest their
food, or very slowly). These extensive rice grounds are pro-
bably the last place where the Wild Fowl that proceed far
to the northward (about 1400 miles) to make their nests,
and bring up their young, feed for a few days to give them
strength for their journey, for the late springs of the northern
climes they pass over cannot give them much. In the Brooks
and small Lakes were several Otters,^ of which we killed one ;
to make the flesh of this animal more palatable, the Natives
hang it in the smoke for a couple of days.
For the first time we saw the small brown Eagle, some
days we saw at least a dozen of them, but always beyond the
reach of our Guns. From M"" Cadotte's House on the Red
River to this place, the Turtle Lake we have been nineteen
days, rising early and putting up late, and yet by my astro-
nomical observations, the course and distance is S 71 E 56
statute miles, in a direct line not quite three miles a day.
These circuituous routes deceive the traveller, and induce him
to think he is at a much greater distance from a given place
than what he actually is. The Turtle Lake, which is the
head of the Mississippe River, is four miles in length, by as
many in breadth and it's small bays give it the rude form
a Turtle.
(Note. By the treaty of 1^83 between Great Britain and
the United States, the northern boundary of the latter was
designated to be a Line due west from the north [west] corner
of the Lake of the Woods (in latitude 49 . 46I N) to the head
of the Mississippe which was supposed to be still more to the
north : This supposition arose from the Fur Traders on
ascending the Mississippe which is very sinuous, counting
every pipe a League of three miles at the end of which they
^ Lutra canadensis (Schreber). [E. A. P.]
272 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
claimed a right to rest and smoke a pipe. By my survey I
found these pipes to be the average length of only two miles,
and they also threw out of account the windings of the River,
and thus placing the Turtle Lake 128 geo. miles too far to
the north). ^
^ This statement by Thompson has been widely quoted, but is
erroneous. The negotiators of the prehminary treaty of peace, November,
1782, had before them a copy of the Mitchell map of North America,
published in 1755. The north-west corner of this map contained an
" inset " map of the Labrador peninsula and Hudson Bay, doubtless in-
serted there because, at the date of publication, the geographical infor-
mation respecting the Red river region was so meagre. The Mississippi
river is shown as a large stream where cut off by the inset map, and, to
anyone relying solely upon the Mitchell map, it would seem evident that
it would extend northward at least as far as the latitude of the north-west
angle of the Lake of the Woods. But for this inset map, and errors in
the body of the map, our boundary would, almost certainly, have followed
the St. Louis river from the present city of Duluth, thence to the head-
waters of the Mississippi. Much geographical confusion has been caused
by over-estimation of distances, but, as stated above, our territorial losses
in this area are not due to this cause. [James White.]
CHAPTER XIX
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE TO
LAKE SUPERIOR
Turtle Brook — Red Cedar Lake — Trading Post — Collecting Wild
Rice — Maple Sugar — Rights in Maple Groves — Mississippe
— Lake Winepegoos — Sand Lake River — Ascend Sand Lake
River — Sand Lake Trading Post — Great Swamps — S'
Louis River — Rapids iff Falls — Trading Post — Elevations
— Lake Superior — Copper on Lake Superior — Large Lakes
of North America — Survey of south shore of Lake Superior —
Echo at Ontonoggan River — Arrive at Falls of S' Maries —
Meet Sir Alexander M'Kenzie — Instructions from the North
West Company — Survey of the east and part of the north
shore of Lake Superior.
TWO canoes of Chippaway Indians came to us on their
way to the Red Cedar Lake ; As my Canoe from
coming too often in contact with the ice was Leaky
I embarked with them to the Red Cedar Lake. From the
SW corner of the Turtle Lake a Brook goes out, by the name
of the Turtle Brook of three yards in width by two feet in
depth at 2i miles p*" hour, but so very winding, that rather
than follow it we made a Carrying Place of i8o yards, to a
small Lake which sends a Brook into it, and which we followed,
and then continued the main stream following its incredible
windings and turnings through apparently an extensive very
low country of grass and marsh.
There were three Falls, along which we made as many
carrying places, and several rapids over a gravel bottom ; As
=73 S
274 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
we proceeded several Brooks came in from each hand, and we
entered the Red Cedar Lake ^ in a fine Stream of fifteen yards
in width by two feet in depth, and three miles an hour. Pro-
ceeding five miles over the Lake we came to the trading house
of M' John Sayer,^ a Partner of the North West Company,
and in charge of this Department. By my Observations this
House is in Latitude 47 . 27 . 56 N Longitude 94. . 47 . 52 West
Variation 6 degrees East. From the north bank of Turtle
Lake to this trading house the course and distance S 58 E 25
Miles, but the windings of the River will more than treble
this distance. The Stream has a grassy valley in which it
holds it's zigzag course ; this land is very low. The Woods on
each side of the Valley are of Oak, Ash, Elm, Larch, Birch,^
Pines, Aspins and where a little elevated fine Maple.* The
soil every where deep and rich with abundance of long grass.
The Brooks and Ponds and the Turtle Rivulet almost from
side to side full of the Stalks of the Wild Rice, which makes
it very laborious to come against the current, as the canoe
must keep the middle of the stream against the full force of
the current. M' Sayer and his Men had passed the whole
winter on wild rice and maple sugar, which keeps them aHve,
but poor in flesh : Being a good shot on the wing I had killed
twenty large Ducks more than we wanted, which I gave to
him a most welcome present, as they had not tasted meat for
a long time. A mess of rice and sugar was equally acceptable
to me who had lived wholly on meat ; and I tried to hve
upon it, but the third day was attacked with heart burn and
weakness of the stomach, which two meals of meat cured ;
but the rice makes good soup. From the remarks I have
made in the vicissitudes of my Hfe, I have always found that
^ Now known as Cass lake.
* John Sayer was one of the wintering partners who signed the agree-
ment of 1804 consolidating the North-West and X Y Companies. His
house at this time was on the north-east side of Cass lake.
^ Betula papyrifera Marsh. [E. A. P.]
* Acer saccharum Marsh. [E. A. P.]
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 275
men leading an active life readily change their food from
vegetable to animal without inconvenience, but not from
animal to vegetable, the latter often attended with weakness
of the bowels.
The wild Rice is fully ripe in the early part of September.
The natives lay thin birch rind all over the bottom of the
Canoe, a man lightly clothed, or naked places himself in the
middle of the Canoe, and with a hand on each side, seizes
the stalks and knocks the ears of rice against the inside of the
Canoe, into which the rice falls, and thus he continues until
the Canoe is full of rice ; on coming ashore the Women assist
in unloading. A canoe may hold from ten to twelve bushels.
He smokes his pipe, sings a Song ; and returns to collect
another canoe load.
And so plentifuU is the rice, an industrious Man may fill
his canoe three times in a day. Scaffolds are prepared about
six feet from the ground made of small sticks covered with
long grass ; on this the rice is laid, and gentle clear fires kept
underneath by the women, and turned until the rice is fully
dried. The quantity collected is no more than the scaffolds
can dry, as the rice is better on the stalk than on the ground.
The rice when dried is pounded in a mortar made of a piece
of hollow oak with a pestle of the same until the husk comes
off. It is then put up in bags made of rushes and secured
against animals. The Natives collect not only enough for
themselves, but also as much as the furr traders will buy
from them ; Two or three Ponds of water can furnish enough
for all that is collected.
In the Spring the Natives employ themselves in making
Sugar from the Maple Trees, the process of doing which is
well known. The old trees give a stronger sap than the young
trees ; The Canadians also make a great quantity, which,
when the sap is boiled to a proper consistence, they run into
moulds where it hardens. But the Indians prefer making it
like Muscovado sugar, this is done simply by stirring it quickly
276 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
about with a small paddle. The Plane Tree ^ also makes a
good sugar, the sap is abundant, and the sugar whiter, but
not so strong. Both sugars have a taste, which soon becomes
agreeable, and as fine white loaf sugar can be made from it
as from that of the West Indies. The natives would make
far more than they do, if they could find a Market.
The men of family that trade at this House are about
Sixty, and M' Sayer, who has been in the Furr Trade many
years, is of opinion that seven persons to a family is about a
fair average. This will give 420 souls. The Natives here call
themselves " Oochepoys " ^ and for some few years have begun
to give something like a right of property to each family on
the sugar maple groves, and which right continues in the
family to the exclusion of others. But as this appropriated
space is small in comparison of the whole extent ; any, and
every person is free to make sugar on the vacant grounds.
The appropriation was made by them in a council, in order
to give to each family a full extent of ground for making
sugar, and to prevent the disputes that would arise where all
claim an equal right to the soil and it's productions. And as
in the making of sugar, several kettles and many small vessels
of wood and birch rind for collecting and boiling the sap are
required, which are not wanted for any other purpose, [they]
are thus left in safety on their own grounds for future use.
Our Canoe being in very bad order from rough usage
among the ice M"" Sayer purchased a good canoe for us for
the value of twenty beaver skins in goods and our Canoe. It
was my intention to have gone a considerable distance down
the River, but M" Sayer strongly advised [me] to go no
further than to Sand Lake River, as beyond we should be in
the power of the Sieux Indians. On the third day of May
^ Thompson evidently refers to the Ash-leaved Maple, Acer negundo
Linn. This tree bears considerable resemblance to the False Plane,
Acer pseudo-platanus Linn., the " Plane Tree " of Scotland. [E. A. P.]
* Another form of the name Ojibway.
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 277
we took leave of our kind host ; our provisions were wild
rice and maple sugar, with powder and shot for ducks. One
mile beyond the house we entered the River, now augmented
to twenty six yards in width by three feet in depth, at two
miles an hour. The valley of the Mississippe lay now clear
before me, it's direction South East ; it's appearance was that
of a meadow of long half dried grass without water of about
half a mile in width, or less. On the left side points of wood
came to the edge of this valley, but not into it, at a mile,
or a mile and a half from each other, the intervals were bays
of hay marsh. On the right hand the Hne of Woods was
more regular ; Being well experienced in taking levels, the
Valley of the River before us showed a declining plane of full
twenty p"^ mile for the first three miles ; this would give a
current which no boat could ascend ; but this was com-
pletely broken down by the innumerable turnings of the
River to every point of the compass. Seeing a Pole before
us at less than five hundred yards the four hands in the canoe
paddled smartly for thirty five minutes before a current of
2i miles an hour to arrive at it, in which time we estimated
we had passed over about three miles of the windings of the
River. Meeting an Indian in his canoe ascending the River,
he smoked with us, and on my remarking to him the crooked-
ness of the River, he shook his head, and said Snake make this
River. I thought otherwise, for these windings break the
current and make it navigable. I have always admired the
formations of the Rivers, as directed by the finger of God
for the most benevolent purposes.
At 7 PM we put up in Lake Winepegoos ^ formed by the
waters of this River. It's length is seventeen miles, by about
six miles in width, the principal fish is Sturgeon.^ The woods
have all day had much Fir, both red and black, the latter very
resinous and much used for torches for night fishing. The
^ At present known as Lake Winnibigoshish.
* Acipenser rubicundus Le Sueur. [E. A. P.]
278 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
soil of the Woods is now sandy ; with Points of alluvial, on
which are Oaks and other hard woods, and the bays have
White Cedar,^ Birch and Larch.^ On leaving the Lake the
valley of the River appeared more level.
On the 4*'' at noon put ashore to observe for latitude and
shortly after the River passing over a fine bottom of gravel,
I found the River to be 26 yards wide 2-i- feet deep by
2f miles an hour. Nine miles below the Leach River from
Leach Lake, southwestward of us comes in, its size appears
equal to this River, which it deepens, but does not add to
it's breadth. For this day the valley of the River is from
half to one mile in width, on each side well wooded with fine
Firs.
May 5'**. After proceeding two miles saw the first leaves
on the Willows ; the Maple and other Trees are in full bud,
but have no leaves. We came to a Rapid, and a Fall over a
smooth Rock of eight feet descent : the whole is thirteen feet
perpendicular, with a Carrying Place of 263 yards. Six miles
further the Meadow River from the north eastward joins,
it's size and water equal to this, the Mississippe, which is
now fifty to sixty yards in breadth. We met a Man wounded
in the shoulder, in a quarrel with an other Man, his Wife was
paddling the Canoe ; it appeared jealousy was the cause.
On the 6^^ May we continued our route : in the course of
the day we met an Indian and his Wife. The man had a large
fresh scar across his nose, and when smoking with us, asked if
he was not still handsome ; on arriving at Sand Lake we
learned that the evening before, while drinking, another
Indian had quarrelled with him, and in a fit of jealousy had
bit off his nose and thrown it away, but in the morning finding
his nose was missing, he searched for, and found it, the part
that remained was still bleeding, on which he stuck the part
bitten off, without any thing to keep it ; it adhered, and
1 Thuja occidentalis Linn. [E. A. P.]
* Larix laricina (Du Roi). [E. A. P.]
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 279
taking a looking glass, [he] exclaimed, " as yet I am not ugly."
I was afterwards informed, the cure became complete, and
only the scar remained. The Swan River from the north
eastward fell in with a bold stream of water. In the after-
noon at 5 PM we arrived at the mouth of the Sand Lake
River, a short distance above which I measured the Mississippe
River ; 62 yards in width ; 1 2 feet in depth ; at 4 yards from
the shore 10 feet, at two yards 8 feet in depth, by full two
miles an hour. The mouth of the Sand Lake River is in
Latitude 46 . 49 . 1 1 N Longitude 93 . 45 . 7 W and from the
Red Cedar Lake S 48 E 68 miles.
As the Mississippe is the most magnificent River, and
flows through the finest countries of North America, I shall
endeavour to explain the peculiar formation of its head
waters. From the Turtle to the Red Cedar Lake, the passage
was too much obstructed by ice to allow me to form a correct
idea of it's windings ; but from the latter Lake to the mouth
of the Sand Lake River there was no ice ; From the Red
Cedar Lake to the latter river is 68 miles direct distance ; to
perform which, four hands in a light Canoe paddled forty
three hours and thirteen minutes. Of this direct distance
ten miles were Lake, leaving fifty eight miles of River ; and
allowing three hours and thirteen minutes for passing the
Lake ; forty hours remain. Four hands in a light Canoe
before a current of two, and at times two and a half miles
an hour, will proceed, at least five miles an hour ; and this
rate for forty hours will give a distance of two hundred miles
of the windings of the river for fifty eight miles in a direct
line, being nearly three and a half miles to one mile. Every
mile of these sinuosities of the River, the current turned to
every point of the compass, and it's direct velocity was
diminished, yet continuing to have a steady current measured
at two full miles an hour, must have a descent of full twenty
inches p" mile to maintain this current ; which in two hundred
miles gives a descent or change of level in this distance of
280 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
333 feet 4 inches, equal to a change of level of 3f feet for each
mile in a direct line.
Thus the descent from the Turtle to the Red Cedar Lake
is 97!^ feet, and from this Lake to the Sand Lake River
3333 f^^^ giving a change of level of 431 feet, apparently-
through a low country. (Note. Lieutenant Lynch of the
US Navy in his survey of the River Jordan from the Sea of
Tiberias to the Dead Sea says the difference of level of the
two seas is something more than one thousand feet. The
distance between these seas in the direct line of the River
is sixty miles, but the windings of the Jordan increased the
distance to two hundred miles which gives a descent of five
feet to a mile. They descended it in two boats in safety,
passing over twenty seven strong rapids and many lesser to
the Dead Sea).
To the intelHgent part of mankind, the scources of all the
great rivers have always been subjects of curiosity ; witness
the expeditions undertaken ; the sums of money expended,
and the sufferings endured to discover the sources of the Nile,
the research of ages. Whatever the Nile has been in ancient
times in Arts and Arms, the noble valley of the Mississippe
bids fair to be, and excluding its pompous, useless. Pyramids
and other works ; it's anglo saxon population will far exceed
the Egyptians in all the arts of civiHzed life, and in a pure
religion. Although these are the predictions of a solitary
traveller unknown to the world they will surely be verified
(1798)-
The course and length of the River Mississippe from it's
scource to it's discharge into the Gulf of Mexico in Latitude
29° o' North Longitude 89 . 10 West is S 14 E 1344 Miles.
This great River including the Missisourie, drains an extent
of 981,034 square geographical miles. In common average of
low water this River discharges 82,000 cubic feet of water in
a second of time ; at this rate it anually places in the Gulf
of Mexico ly^Q^ cubic miles of fresh water ; and including
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 281
freshets and steady high water a volume equal to 19 J cubic
miles.
On the 6'^ day of May we arrived at the Sand Lake
River, up which we turn and bend our course for Lake
Superior. Since we left the Red River on the 9*^ day of
April we have not seen the track of a Deer, or the vestige of
a Beaver, not a single Aspin marked with it's teeth. The
Indians we met all appeared very poor from the animals
being almost wholly destroyed in this section of the country ;
their provisions were of wild rice and sugar ; we did not see
a single duck in their canoes, ammunition being too scarce ;
nor did we see a Bow and Arrows with them, weapons
which are in constant use among the Nahathaways for
killing all kinds of fowl ; they were bare footed and poorly
dressed.
The Sand Lake River is twenty yards wide, by five feet in
depth, at one and a half miles an hour. It's length two
miles to the Sand Lake, proceeding more than half a mile
we came to a trading house of the North West Company
under the charge of Mons"^ Boiske.^ Here were the Women
and children of about twenty families, the Men were all
hunting in the Plains on the west side of the Mississippe to
make half dried meat, and procure skins for leather of the
Bison but the meat thus split and dried is very coarsely
done, and to make it something decent, it has to pass through
the hands of the Women. These people can only dress the
hide of the Bison into leather ; but have not the art of dressing
it with the hair on, to make Robes of it, so usefull for cloath-
ing and bedding. As the Men were hunting on what is
called the War Grounds, that is, the debatable lands between
them and the Sieux Indians, the Women were anxiously
waiting their arrival. The night being fine, as usual I was
1 Doubtless the same as Charles Bousquet or Bousquai, who is men-
tioned by Coues as having been in the Fond du Lac department about this
time. Elsewhere Thompson speaks of him as " Mons. Buskay."
282 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
observing for the Latitude and Longitude of the place ; in
the morning an aged Man, no longer able to hunt came to
me, and said, I come on the part of the Women, for they
want to know where the Men are, are they loaded with meat,
and when will they arrive ; I requested Mons" Boiske to tell
him, that I knew nothing of the matter, and saw only the
Moon and Stars. But he took his own view of the question ;
and told him to tell the Women ; the Men are safe, they
will be here tomorrow, each has a load of Meat, but it is
poor, there is no fat on it ; and they must not get drunk
again until the Bisons are fat (August), and who ever bites
off another man's nose, would be killed by the Sieux in the
first battle. Umph, said the old man, while we can get fire
water we will drink it. The Women were pleased, and said
all the Men were fools that drank fire water. He informed
me the Women in general kept themselves sober, and when
the men were about to drink they hid all the Arms, and
Knives and left them nothing but their teeth and fists to
fight with. This gentleman, was of the same opinion with
the other Traders, that ardent spirits was a curse to the
Natives, it not only occasioned quarrels, but also revived old
animosities, that had been forgotten. It kept the Indians
poor and was of no use as an article of trade.
He showed me his winter hunt, in value fifty beaver
skins. The Minks ^ and Martens^ were inferior, the Lynxes*
appeared good, but the furr [was] not so long as in the north.
But the Fishers* were uncommonly large, the color a rich
glossy black brown, and the furr fine : The Beaver's were
mostly fall and spring skins, and as each were good in color
and furr, but not a single Fox, or Wolf. These animals are
almost unknown, there is nothing for them to live on. All
* Lutreola v. letifera (HoUister). [E. A. P.]
* Mattes americana (Turton). [E. A. P.]
' Lynx canadensis Kerr. [E. A. P.]
* Maries pennanti (Erxleben). [E. A. P.]
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 283
his furrs came from the Forests between the Mississippe and
Lake Superior.
He had traded i6 Cwt of Maple Sugar from the Natives ;
this was packed in baskets of birch rind of 28 to 68 lbs each.
The Sugar appeared clean and well made ; that of the Plane
Trees, looked like the East India Sugars, and [was] much the
same in taste : In this article I have always noticed the supply-
is greater than the demand. The Men of family that trade
here are about forty two, which at seven souls to each man,
is 294.
We had now to cross the country to gain the River S'
Louis, and by it descend to Lake Superior. Our Provisions
were four pieces of dried bison meat ; four beaver tails and
two quarts of swamp cranberries,^ they were the largest I had
ever seen, being about the size of a small hazel nut.
This trading house is in Latitude 46 . 46 . 30 N Longitude
93 . 44 . 17 West Variation 6 degrees East.
On the y'*" May went over the Sand Lake of four miles
in length, by about one mile in width to Savannah Brook,
up which we proceeded eight geo. miles of which i^ mile is
a large Pond, but the windings lengthen the Brook to thirteen
miles, to a great Swamp of 4-i- miles across it in a N 81 E
direction, the latter part of what may be termed bog ; over
which we passed by means of a few sticks laid lengthways,
and when we shpped off we sunk to our waists, and with
difficulty regained our footing on the sticks. No Woods grow
on this great Swamp, except scattered pine shrubs of a few
feet in height ; yet such as it was, we had to carry our Canoe
and all our things. And all the furrs, provisions, baggage
and Canoes of the Mississippe have to be carried on their
way to the Depot on Lake Superior, and likewise all the
goods for the winter trade. It is a sad piece of work. The
Person in charge of the brigade ; crosses it as fast as he can,
leaves the Men to take their own time, who flounce along
^ Oxycoccus macrocarpus (Ait.). [E. A. P.]
284 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
with the packs of furrs, or pieces of goods, and " sacre " as
often as they please. Heavy Canoes cannot be carried over
but at great risque both to the Men and Canoes, and the
Company have Canoes at each end. This great Swamp,
extended as far as we could see northward and southward,
and I could not learn it's termination either way. It appears
to be somewhat like a height of land between the Mississippe
and the River S' Louis, as from it's west side it sends a brook
into the former ; and from it's east side a brook into the
latter.
With an extra Man to help us, it took us a long day to get all
across it. At the east end I observed for Latitude and Longitude
which gave [Latitude] 46 . 52 . 3 N Longitude 92 . 28 . 42 W
Variation 6 degrees east. We now entered a Brook of seven
feet wide, three feet deep, by two miles an hour, and descended
it for twelve miles, but it's windings will extend it to twenty
miles, in which distance it receives one brook from the south-
ward, and two from the northward, which increased it to
ten yards wide, seven feet deep by if miles an hour. We
now entered the River S' Louis, a bold stream of about one
hundred yards in width by eight feet in depth, the current
three miles an hour. Having descended the River 4^ Miles
we put up at 7f pm. We have been all day in the Forests
that surrounded Lake Superior. The Brook of today has
many wind fallen trees across it, which we had to cut away.
In several places we saw the marks of beaver for the first
time. On examining a Swan ^ we shot, it had thirteen eggs,
from the size of a pea to that of a walnut, yet I do not
remember ever seeing more than nine young ones with them.
The Woods we have passed are a few Oaks of moderate size,
some Ash, but the principal part Maple, Plane," White Birch,
Poplar and Aspin ; on the low grounds. Pine and Larch.
Hitherto the width, depth and rate of current of the Brooks
' Olor buccinator (Richardson). [E. A. P.]
^ Ash-leaved Maple, Acer negundo Linn. [E. A. P.]
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 285
and Rivers are those of high water from the melting of the
snow. But as all of them, even the Red River, depend on
the Snow and Rains for their supply of water ; in the months
of August, September and October they are all shoal. The
Men who have navigated these streams for several years are
now with me, and they assure me that this river (S' Louis)
bold and deep as it now is, in the above months has only
eighteen inches of depth, running among stones which they
are often obliged to turn aside to make a passage for their
canoes. In the night we heard a Beaver playing about us,
flapping his broad tail on the water, with a noise as loud as
the report of a small pistol, which was a novelty to us.
Upon descending the first rapids, and proceeding down-
wards, the Men were surprised to find the marks on the trees,
to which they were accustomed to tie the Canoes at their
meals, to be from six to eight feet above the present level of
the River This may be accounted for, by our being on this
river about a month more early than usual, and the sharp
night frosts preventing the melting of the snow on the
heights and interiour of Lake Superior. This River has many
rapids, on one of which the waves filled the Canoe half full of
water ; These were succeeded by a Cataract of small low
steeps of a full mile in length round a point of rock, across
which we made a carrying place of 1576 yards. Four miles
further, of almost all rapids ; we came to the Long Carrying
Place of seven miles in length. On our left the River descends
the lower heights by a series of low falls, ending with a steep
fall, estimated at 120 feet in height, below which the River
flows with a moderate current into Lake Superior.
The surface rock of the country is a slaty sand stone, very
good for sharpening knives and axes. Near the mouth of the
River is a Trading House of the North West Company under
the charge of Mons"" Lemoine ; his returns were 600 lbs of
Furrs with the expectation of trading 400 lbs more 9 kegs
of gum from the Pine Trees for the Canoes and 12 Kegs,
286 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
each of ten gallons, of Sugar. This House is in Latitude
46 . 44 . 33 N Longitude 92 . 9 . 45 W Variation 4-i- degrees East.
I have only set down my observations made at certain places,
but they are numerous all over the survey, as every clear day
and night, no opportunity was ommitted of taking observa-
tions for Latitude, Longitude and Variation to correct the
courses and distances of the survey. The Canoes that descend
the River to the upper end of the Long Carrying Place, are
carefully laid up, and there left, in like manner the Canoes
that come from the Lake are left at the lower end. We
found three large Canoes, and a north Canoe of 28 feet in
length, much broken. This was too large for us, but we had
no choice, we repaired it, and as we had only three men fitted
it up with two oars, which have the force of four paddles, as
we had now to encounter the Winds and waves of Lake
Superior.
The Natives that trade at this House are about thirty
Men of family, and are about 210 souls. In Winter, from the
poverty of the country they can barely live, and a small
stock of sugar is part of their support. Deer^ are almost un-
known, and they are suppHed with leather, as with other
necessaries. In the open season their support is by fishing,
for which the spear is much in use. Their canoes are about
fifteen feet in length by three feet in breadth, and flat
bottomed ; With a Woman or a Lad to paddle and steer the
canoe, the Indian with his long spear, stands on the gunwales
at the bar behind the bow, and ticklish as the canoe is, and
the Lake almost always somewhat agitated, he preserves his
upright posture, as [if] standing on a rock. On the Lake,
especially in the fore part of the day, a low fog [rises] on the
surface of the water, caused by the coldness of the water
and the higher temperature of the air ; which hides the
Canoe ; and only the Indian Man, with his poised spear
^ Odocoileus v. borealis (Miller). [E, A, P.]
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 287
ready to strike is seen, like a ghost gliding slowly over the
water.
I haye sometimes amused myself for twenty minutes with
the various appearances this low fog gives to these fishermen.
As the elevation of the Scource of the Mississippe is a subject
of curiousity to all intelligent men, especially to those of the
United States, to whom this noble River belongs, I shall
continue my estimated calculations to determine its level
above that of the Sea in the gulph of Mexico.
From the Mississippe River to the mouth of the Sand
Lake River ; by this River and the Savannah Brook there is
an ascent of l6 ft 3 Inches to the great Morass, which may be
taken as level. From the east side of this Morass a Brook
descends to the River S' Louis, by it's windings of twenty
miles, at 12 Inches p"^ mile is 20 feet, giving to the Mississippe
an elevation of 3 feet 9 inches above this part of the River
S* Louis. The descent of this River to Lake Superior is
34 miles of strong current at 20 inches p"" mile, gives 56 feet
8 inches. 11 miles of strong Rapids at 5 feet p"^ mile, equal
to 55 feet of descent. One full mile of low Falls having a
Carrying Place ; and a descent of twenty feet. One Carry-
ing Place of 7 miles ; the Falls 20 feet p"" mile equal to
140 feet to which add the last fall of 120 feet in height equal
to 260 feet.
Then 21 miles of current at 15 inches p"" mile equal to
26 feet 3 inches, giving to the above part of the River S*
Louis a descent of 417 feet 11 inches to Lake Superior. This
Lake, by the levels taken to it's east end is 625 feet above the
tide waters of the S' Lawrence River, Hence we have from
the Sea to Lake Superior an ascent of levels of 625 feet ;
The ascent to the Morass Brook, of the River S' Louis 418
feet ; and difference of level of the Mississippe 3 feet 9 Inches,
giving a total of 1046 feet 9 inches of this last River above
the level of the Sea, at the Mouth of the Sand Lake River ;
and from hence to the Turtle Lake, by the calculation already
288 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
made 431 feet ; equal to 1478 feet ; ^ the elevation of the
Turtle Lake, the scource of the Mississippe, above the Sea.
It is tedious to the reader to attend to these calculations
and yet to the enquiring mind they are necessary that he may
know the ground on which they are based. For the age of
guessing is passed away, and the traveller is expected to give
his reasons for what he asserts. To take the levels of several
hundred miles of Rivers is too expensive, unless there is some
great object in view, and all that the pubHc can expect, or
obtain, in these almost unknown countries, are the estimates
of experienced men.
On Lake Superior a Volume could be written ; I have
been twice round it, and six times over a great part, each
survey correcting the preceding. The last survey of this Lake
was under the orders of the Foreign Office for to determine,
and settle the Boundary Line, between the Dominions of
Great Britain and the Territories of the United States. The
Courses were taken by the Compass, and the Distances by
Massey's Patent Log, the latter so exact, as to require very
little correction. The many astronomical observations made
have settled the exact place of the Shores of this great Lake :
the Maps of which, with the Boundary Line are in the Foreign
Office in London ; and also in the Office of the United States
at Washington, and are not published.^ The River St Louis
flows into it's west end ; and the discharge of the Lake is at
it's south east corner, by the Falls of S* Maries, which are in
Latitude 46 . 31 . 16 North Longitude 84 . 13 . 54 W. giving the
straight course and distance, S 89 E 383 Miles, it's breadth
increases from the west to the east end, to 176 miles. It
has two great bays on it's east side, across which are many
Islands. The shores of the south side are 671 miles, and
1 The best information available indicates that Thompson was only
56 feet in error. [James White.]
^ These maps have since been published in J. B. Moore, History and
Digest of International Arbitraiions, Washington, 1895.
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 289
those of the north and east sides 946 miles, being a circuit
of 161 7 miles It's area is about 28,090 square miles. It's
level above the Sea is 625 feet.^ It's depth is as yet unknown,
even near the shores of Pye Island and the head land Thunder
Bay ; it has been sounded with 350 fathoms of Line, and no
bottom [found] and this by men experienced in taking sound-
ings. Supposing it's greatest depth to be only 400 fathoms
equal to 2400 feet, it's bottom is 1775 feet below the surface
of the Ocean."
Taking it's area at 28,090 square miles and its average
depth at 200 fathoms, this Lake contains 5930 cubic miles of
fresh water. All summer the water tastes very cold, and in
winter only the bays, and around the Islands are frozen,
which the waves of the frequent gales of wind break up,
and cause much floating ice. In easterly or westerly gales
of wind the roll of it's waves are like those of the sea . When
surveying this Lake in the year 1822 on the north side about
fifty miles eastward of S' Louis River, about i pm we put
ashore to dine, the day clear and fine and the Lake perfectly
calm : as we were sitting on the Rocks, about a full mile
from us direct out in the Lake suddenly there arose an
ebullition of the water ; its appearance was that of a body
of water thrown up from some depth. It was about thirty
yards in length by four feet in height, it's breadth we could
not see, from within this the water was thrown up about
ten feet in very small columns as seen through our glasses.
To the eye it appeared like heavy rain ; the Lake became
agitated, the waves rolled on the shore ; and we had to secure
the Canoes, this lasted for about half an hour. I took a
sketch of it ; when it subsided, the waves still continued ;
and we were for three hours unable to proceed. During this
time and the whole day the wind was calm. On the western
part of the south shore, the rock is mostly of Sandstone as
1 Its elevation is 602 feet.
^ Its maximum depth is 1,000 feet, nearly 400 feet below mean sea-level.
T
290 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
are also the Islands ; some of the cliffs are much worn by the
waves, and have heaps of debris : the Islands are in the
same state. One of them is worn through, and in calm
weather a canoe and men can pass with the arch three feet
above their heads.
Along the shore, proceeding eastward the limestone
appears and continues and seems everywhere to underlay the
sandstone. Everywhere the land rises boldly from the Lake
shore, and at the distance of about fifteen miles are crowned
by the Porcupine hills, lying parallel to the Lake and the
elevation of the land appears to be full 2500 feet above the
Lake ; the whole has the appearance of a continuous Forest,
and so far as the eye can judge may be cultivated. The north
and east sides of this Lake are very different from the south
side ; they rise abruptly in rude rounded shaped rock rolhng
back to the height of 850 to 2000 feet above the Lake ; at a
distance they appear to be one Forest but a nearer approach
shows many a place of bare rock. The whole extent of the
946 miles of this coast is of the granitic order, in all the
varieties that quartz, feltspar and mica can form with the
materials and offers a fine field for the geologist and mineralo-
gist ; but in all this distance were ten Farmers to search for
a place where each could have a lot of 200 acres of good land
along side of each other I do not think they would find it.
In the north east corner of the Lake there is much Basalt,
the only place in which I have seen this mineral on the east
side of the Mountains. In this corner is Thunder Bay, so
named by the Natives from it's frequent occurrence. Off the
west point is Pye Island, so named from it's shape, it is of
Basalt, part of this Island has perpendicular sides of at least
100 feet in height ; close to which, the Lake has been sounded
with 350 fathoms of lead line and no bottom [found] ; We
may conclude the depth of the Lake to be here 400 fathoms,
which will give the Basalt walls of the Island 2500 feet in
height. The east end of the Bay is Thunder Point, rising
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 291
1 1 20 feet above the surface of the water, which has been
several times sounded without finding the bottom ; giving
to the Lake the same depth as at Pye Island. This Basalt
Point has a height of 3520 feet ; Great part of it is finely
fluted, and the edges of their concaves fine and sharp ; and
the waves of the Lake seem to have no effect on it, though
exposed to all their force, indeed the Basalt walls of both
places appear as fresh and firm as if Providence had placed
them there only a few years ago. From the west end of the
Lake by the north and east sides to the Falls of S* Maries are
thirty one Rivers, of which the S' Louis the Mishipacoton and
the Neepego, are about 1 50 yards in width ; the others from
thirty to sixty yards wide, and twenty eight Brooks. On the
south side there are forty Rivers two of these 150 yards in
width the others from twenty to seventy yards, and forty
one Brooks. All of these Rivers and Brooks are fed by the
Rain and snow, and by the evaporation from this great Lake
which rests upon the surrounding high Lands, and is not
wafted beyond them. From the heights of these lands all
the above Streams rush down in a series of Rapids and Falls,
with some intervals of moderate current, as they pass over a
table land. On the south side the River Ontonoggan (the
native name) has from old times been noted for the pieces
of pure copper found there, of which the Indians made their
weapons before the arrival of the French ; and afterwards
for the services of the Churches.
Learning from my Men that a short distance up the River
there was a large Mass of Copper, we left our canoe and pro-
ceeded on foot to it ; we found it lying on a beach of lime-
stone at the foot of a high craig of the same ; it's shape round,
the upper part a low convex, all worn quite smooth by the
attrition of water and ice, but now lying dry. We tried to
cut a chip from it, but it was too tough for our small axe.
(Note. This mass of pure copper has since been taken to
Washington at the expense of 5000 dollars, and found to
292 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
weigh 3000 lbs by information.) ^ At the extremity of the great
Point called by the Natives Keewewoonanoo (We return)
now shortened to Keewenow, in a small harbour we took
pieces of copper ore. I named it Copperass harbour. Both
at this place, at the above River and a few other places I
learn the people of the United States for these three years
(1848) have worked the Copper Mines with considerable
profit ; and have also found much silver.
It is not easy to conceive of the vast quantity of alluvial
of all kinds brought down by seventy one Rivers and sixty
nine Brooks rushing down these high lands, that surround
the Lake, the accumulation of centuries must be very great
yet such is the depth of the Lake, not a single River shows a
point of alluvial worth notice. (Note. In the Province of
Auvergne in France, there appears to have been a Lake of
the size of Lake Superior, the barriers of which appear to have
been broken down by an earthquake, and the Lake emptied.
One aUuvial from a River destroyed at the same time, was
computed to be nine hundred feet in height from the bottom
of the Lake. This catastrophe must have happened previous
to the time of Julius Caser, for had it happened in his time,
or since, the Roman historians would have noticed such an
event. Saussave.)
The northern part of North America is noted for it's
numerous and large Lakes far more than [any] other part of
the world. The Great Architect said " Let them be, and
they were " but he has given to his creature the power to
1 This mass of copper, stated on the label to weigh about three tons, is
still in the U.S. National Museum at Washington, D.C. It was observed
by Alexander Henry the elder in 1 766, and had then long been known to
the Indians. In 1841 Julius Eldred, having purchased it from the
Chippewa, took it to Detroit, where it was exhibited. In 1843 it was
claimed by the Gkjvemment and taken to Washington. It remained in
charge of the War Department until i860, when it was transferred to
the Smithsonian Institution. By an Act of Congress, Eldred was awarded
the sum of $5,664.98 to reimburse him for his expenses in connection
with it. [E. A. P.]
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 293
examine his works on our globe ; and perhaps learn the order
in which he has placed them. If we examine the positions
of all these Lakes, their greatest lengths will be found to be
about between North and thirty degrees west, and South
and thirty degrees east, which are the Hnes of direction of
the east side of the Great Plains, and of the Rocky Mountains :
the anomaHes to this order are Lakes Michigan, Superior and
Athabasca. The west sides of the Lakes are of Limestone
and the east sides of Granite. Between these two forma-
tions are the great wide chasms, or valleys filled with water,
which are the Lakes. And the three above Lakes, although
lying west and east, have their south sides of Limestone and
their north sides of the granitic order, and their deep waters
in their same kind of valley. The few Lakes that lie as it
were within the east side of the Great Plains, as Cumberland
and the Cedar Lakes are wholly within the Limestone forma-
tion, and are comparatively shoal water Lakes.
Having settled by observations the Latitude and Longi-
tude of the trading house of S' Louis's River at the west end
of Lake Superior ; on the 1 2^^ of May we proceeded to
survey the south side of the Lake. In the afternoon we came
to four Lodges of Chipaways. They had just arrived from the
interior, having wintered at the west end of the Porcupine
HiUs and now pass the summer on the borders of the Lake to
maintain themselves by fishing. They are about 28 families,
and by the usual rule of seven souls to a family their number
is 196 persons. My Men thought, for the number of Men,
there were more old Women than usual. Although the
interior rises high, yet near the Lake the shores are low,
with many fine sandy beaches, for setting of nets for fishing ;
yet the Natives make no use of them, although they see the
success of the white men : If a net is given to them, they are
too indolent to take care of it, and it soon becomes useless.
They prefer the precarious mode of spearing fish, which is
practi[ca]ble only in calm, or very moderate weather. The
294 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
woods seen from the Lake were of white and red Birch,^
Spruce Pines," Larch and Aspins, all of small growth.
The next day we passed an Island of Sand Stone which
the Waves had worn into rude arches, with many caves. The
next day we came to three Lodges containing fifteen families,
being 105 souls. An American of the States was living with
them, and had adopted their way of life in preference to hard
labor on a farm. In the afternoon we passed Mons'' Michel
Cadotte ^ with five men and several Lodges of the natives from
their winter quarters, now to live by fishing.
The night and morning of the 15'*" May was a severe
frost. The Land all day very high and bold shores. Having
gone eleven miles we came to the Montreal River of 25 yards
in width, between banks of rock ; near the Lake is a Fall of
30 feet in height. The course of this River is through the
Porcupine Hills the lower parts of which are now the coasts
of the Lake ; Two of my Men had wintered near the head of
this River. As the whole length of the River is a series of
Falls between steep banks of rock the distance from the Lake
to the House was one continued Carrying Place of 130 rests.
(A Rest, or Pose, is the distance the cargo of the canoe is
carried from place to place and then rest.) In this hilly country
a Rest may be from five to six hundred yards, and the
130 rests about forty miles. The men say the distance takes
them thirty seven days of carrying to the House. All the
trading Houses on the south side of the Lake require many
miles of carrying, with some intervals of current to take the
cargo of the canoe to the wintering ground. The Men who
winter and have to traverse the country in every direction,
say the Lakes are few and small, more like beaver ponds than
Lakes ; and that in very many places sandstone for sharpening
' Betula papyri/era Marsh, and probably the Yellow Birch, Betula
lutea Michx. [E. A. P.]
* Probably White Spruce, Picea canadensis (Mill.). [E. A. P.]
' This was a brother of Baptiste Cadotte, who was in charge of the
trading post on Red Lake river mentioned on p. 252.
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 295
knives and axes are to be found. We came to a lodge of five
families, they had seen no person for eight Moons, and had
all their winters hunt with them, of about 360 pounds of
furrs. Further on was a lodge of ten families.
Early on the 17"* May we came to the Fair River at the
east end of the Porcupine Hills. The interior country has
now lower land. The Woods hitherto have much white
Cedar,^ with Birch, Aspin and Pine, with a few Maple ^ and
Plane Trees, ^ all of very common growth. An extensive body
of ice lying before us, we had to put ashore and pass the
day. We set a net but caught only six Carp.* The wind
having drifted the ice from the shore, early on the 18''' we
set oif and soon came to the Ontonoggan River, where lay
the great mass of Copper I have already mentioned. Here
was a M' Cadotte with four Lodges of Indians, he informed
us that last summer (1797) a party of Americans had visited
the River and proceeded twenty miles up it to the Forks of
the River, they had promised the Indians to come this
summer (1798) and build a Fort and work the mines, for which
the Chippaways were waiting for them, but this promise
they did not perform until the year 1845. M' Cadotte had
a few goods remaining and requested a passage with us for
himself and goods which we gave him and he embarked
with us.
Full twenty five miles North eastward of the Ontonoggan
River are high steep rocks of a reddish color, which have the
most distant Echo I have ever heard. We stopped a short
time to amuse ourselves with it : The Rocks were about
200 feet in height and the place of the Echo appeared about
sixty feet above us ; The Echo of the words we spoke, seemed
more sharp and clear than our voices and somewhat louder.
1 Thuja occidentalis Linn. [E. A. P.]
2 Acer saccharum Marsh. [E. A. P.]
' Acer negundo Linn. [E. A. P.]
* Catostomus commersonii (Lacepede). [E. A. P.]
296 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
One of the Men, Francois Babue, who had been many years
in the furr trade of the Lake used to abuse the Echo until
he worked himself into a violent passion ; did the same this
time until his expressions becoming too coarse, we moved off,
he swearing, that he thought it very hard he never could
have the last word. The greater part of this day we were in
much danger from the Ice, which lay in the Lake a short
distance from the shore ; had it come in we could not have
saved ourselves as the rocks were high and steep. At ji pm
we put up on Keewenaw Carrying Place ; This is a remark-
able place, being an Isthmus of 2000 yards, in a south course
and forms a body of Land in circuit 94 Miles into a Peninsula :
known under the name of Point Keewenaw. The bank is
about twenty feet in height; the first 11 00 yards is good
ground ; the other 960 yards a perfect swamp. To avoid
going round this Peninsula of high land the people of the
States in time to come will cut a Canal through the Isthmus,
at a small expence, as a Lock is not required. '^ The night
being clear, as usual, I observed for Latitude and Longitude
the former 47 . 14. 27 N. Longitude 88° 38' 36" West.
From the Carrying Place is a Brook of 1-5 mile to a
small Lake, and then a kind of Lagoon of 24 miles to Lake
Superior. Part of the Lagoon, on one side the Woods
were on fire, the heat and smoke made us lay by for a few
hours. On the 22""^ and 24'^ of May we had heavy rain
with vivid Lightning and loud Thunder. The provisions we
had to live on were hulled Corn, part of a bag of wild rice,
with a few pounds of grease to assist the boihng. It is
customary after supper, to boil corn or rice for the meals of
next day, and in good weather we set off by 4 am, the Kettles
were taken off the fire in a boiling state and placed in the
Canoe, and two hours afterwards we had a warm breakfast ;
If Lightning and Thunder came in the day the Corn became
1 This prediction has since been fulfilled by the construction of the
Portage Lake canal.
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 297
sour and had to be thrown away ; but the rice never soured :
the same thing in the night, when the kettle had corn it was
soured, but if of rice it kept good : the Men assured me that
the Lightning and Thunder had no effect on the wild rice ;
and that in the heats of Summer the Corn soured so fre-
quently, they were half starved ; to boil a Kettle of corn
requires three to four hours. The rice is cooked in half an
hour, but it is very weak food. All the Corn for these voyages
has to be steeped in hot lye of wood ashes to take off the rind
of the grain. On the zS'*" May we arrived. Thank God at
the Falls of S* Maries, the discharge of Lake Superior, and
the head of the River S^ Lawrence, which flows into Lake
Huron.
Here I had the pleasure of meeting Sir Alexander
M'^Kenzie the celebrated traveller who was the first to follow
down the great stream of water flowing northward from the
Slave Lake into the Arctic Sea, and which great River bears his
name, and [was] made well known to the public by the journey
of Sir John Franklin. Upon my report to him of the surveys
I had made and the number of astronomical Observations foi
Latitude, Longitude and Variation of the Compass, he was
pleased to say I had performed more in ten months than he
expected could be done in two years. The next day the
Honorable William M'^GilHvray arrived. These gentlemen
were the Agents, and principal Partners of the North West
Company : they requested me to continue the survey of the
Lake round the east and north sides to the Grand Portage,
then the Depot of the company. The survey we had finished
was of the south side, from the west, to the east end ; follow-
ing the shores, the distance is 671 miles, but the direct line
is only 383 miles. We had met with no families, and
allowing twenty families not seen, will give 130 families.
M" Cadotte, who has been for many years a Trader in these
parts, thought 125 families to be nearer the number. Allow-
ing these Natives to have possession of hunting ground only
298 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
to the distance of 70 miles from the Lake, the extent will be
26,810 square miles, and this divided by 130 will give to each
family an extent of 206 square miles of hunting ground ; yet
with this wide area ; the annual average hunt of each family
of all kinds of furrs, from the Bear down to the Musk Rat,^
will not exceed sixty to seventy skins in trade ; allowing a
Bear skin to be the value of two beavers ; and eight to ten
musk Rats to be the value of one beaver. Deer are so scarce
that all they kill does not furnish leather for their wants, and
when the mild seasons come they all descend to Lake Superior
to live by fishing. Calculation is tedious reading, yet without
it, we cannot learn the real state of any country. (Note.
M'^ Ballantyne of the Hudson's Bay Company has lately
published a work, with the title of " Six years residence in
Hudson's Bay," in which, speaking of the Bay, he says " the
interior has Myriads of wild animals." The Natives will
thank him to show them where they are. When he wrote
those words he must have been thinking of Musketoes, and
in this respect he was right.)
The Forests of the Lake are such as has been already
described ; I could not learn that any of the Forest Trees
acquired a growth to merit particular notice, except the
white Birch, the Rind of which is very good for canoes, and
of a large size.
On the first day of June we left the Falls of S' Maries and
from thence surveyed the east and part of the north shores
of Lake Superior to the y^^ day of this month, when late we
arrived at the Grand Portage, then the Depot of the North
West Company, to which the furrs of the interiour country
came, and from whence the merchandise was taken for the
furr trade to about the same time the following year, as
already described. The Falls of St Maries is a rapid of about
three fourths of a mile in length in which it descends eleven
^ Fiber zibethicus (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
SCOURGE OF THE MISSISSIPPE 299
feet/ and then by three channels of easy current descends to
Lake Huron. The carrying place is about a mile in length
of low wet ground, very easy for a canal and locks, and which
at length is about to be completed in this year of i84[8]
The opposite bank of these rapids belong to the United
States, it is steep and above twenty feet in height, and a
canal could not be made but at enormous expence. While wait-
ing [for] the Province of Canada to make a canal on the only
side in which it can be made, these enterprising people made
a deep channel at the foot of their steep bank with a tow path
for their Vessels, but the strength of the current makes the
passage somewhat dangerous. This canal [they] will now do
away with. The mines of copper ore that have been worked
both by the citizens of the United States and the people of
this province now demand a canal which otherwise would
not have [been] made, although the fisheries of Lake Superior
required a canal many years ago, but as yet, only the people
of the States are engaged in these fisheries, although superior
to that of any other which is always the case with deep water.
^ Eighteen feet ; now increased to about nineteen and a half feet by
the dredging of the St. Mary river below the Sault.
CHAPTER XX
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS
Western country of Forests and Plains — Inhabitants — Build a
Trading House at Red Deer Lake — Climate — Food during
winter at Red Deer Lake — Porcupines — Beaulieu eats a
■porcupine quill^ — Use of quills — Food of the porcupine —
Intelligence of the porcupine — Stone Indians and Sieux —
Customs — Religion — ^ Vozv — Family Feud — Trading House
at the Fords of the Peace and Smoke Rivers — Iroquois,
Nepissings, and Algonquins brought to the Western Forest
land — Pride of the Iroquois — Encounter of Iroquois and
Willow Indians — Council of Iroquois — Feast of Iroquois —
Dances — Spikanoggan dances — Settlement of the Iroquois —
Theories as to origen of the Indians.
HITHERTO these travels have extended over a tract
of country on the east parts of North America, which
from it's formation I have called the Stoney Region
(perhaps rocky, would be more appropriate). As akeady de-
scribed, it is little else than rocks with innumerable Lakes and
Rivers, and south of 58 degrees north has forests of small Pines,
which increase in size going southward, with Aspin, Poplar
and Birch, but northward of the above latitude the country is
covered with various kinds of moss. Northward of 61 degrees
this region may be said to extend to the Rocky Mountains.
On the latitude 58 . 40 north this region from Churchill in
Hudsons Bay extend[s] 640 miles to the westward and from
Fort Albany in the same bay, on the parallel of 52 degrees, this
^ There is no reference to this in the manuscript here printed.
300
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS 301
region is 660 miles in wi[d]th, including the Lakes on its west
side. From Albany southward it's west side embraces the great
Lakes Superior and Huron, the north bank of the Ottawa and
S* Lawrence Rivers to the Gulf, and it's east side is everywhere
bounded by the sea. On the whole of this great extent of
country containing an area of about . . . square miles, the
Deer and other wild animals of the forest are thinly scattered
for the comparative extent of the country ; and the native
Indians are in the same proportion. The summer is from five
to six months, or more properly the open season, with frequent
frosts, and heats, but always tormented with Musketoes and
other flies. In the winter the snow is deep and the cold
intense, in the months of December, January and February
the Thermometer is for many days at fifty to seventy degrees
below the freezing point. In the open season the Natives
and Traders make use of Canoes, and in winter of flat sleds ;
for removing from place to place. Such is the country of the
north east, or Siberian, side of north America.
For Agriculture it offers nothing to the farmer except a
few places detached from each other, without a market ; nor
can it become a grazing country, the torment of the flies is
too great to allow cattle to graze until the cool nights of
September ; the sufferings of the Deer must be seen to be
believed ; even the timid Moose Deer on some days is so
distressed with the flies, as to be careless of life, and the
hunters have shot them in this state, and the cloud of flies
about them [was] so great, and dense, that they did not dare
to go to the animal for several minutes. Such cannot be a
grazing country, especially when to this is added, a long cold
winter with great depth of snow. We may therefore con-
clude, that as all kind Providence has fitted the Arabians
to live and enjoy his naked hot sandy deserts so the same
merciful Being has fitted the Indian to live and enjoy his
cold region of forests and deserts of snow. The means for the
enjoyment of civilised life is denied to both, and the white
302 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
man is unfitted to take the place of the Indian and the arabian.
Modern geologists would consider this Stoney Region to be
a formation that had been uncovered and left by the sea,
long after the land to its westward, on which I shall now
describe.
The climate of this region is best explained by the meteoro-
logical tables kept. (To be in a note) that at Bedford House, ^
on the west bank of the Rein's Deer Lake, in Latitude 57° 23'
N. Longitude 102 . 59 west.
+
+
+
October
Mean heat
26
greatest
54
least heat
15
November
d"
1-5
do
45
J-
d"
37
December
d«
18
d"
30
+
d'^
56
January
d"
19
d"
25
+
d"
50
February
d«
16.7
d'-
15
+
d'^
49
March
d"
5
+
d"
44
+
d"
43
April
d"
11.5
d"
40
+
d"
30
May 20 days
d"
24.5
d-
50
d^'
7
In summer, the Thermometer for a few day in July, the
+
heat was at 80 making the range of heat and cold to be
136 degrees. The Ice in this great Lake was firm to the
G^ day of July, when a heavy gale of wind broke it up. Where
there is soil in the Pine Forests, the heat of summer thaws it
only a few inches.
At the Reed Lake^ in Latitude 54° 36' N. [Longitude]
' Thompson spent the winter of 1796-97 at this house, just before
leaving the service of the Hudson's Bay Company.
* Reed lake is on the headwaters of Grass river, on the line of the
Hudson Bay Railway from The Pas to Port Nelson. Thompson lived
there during the winters of 1794—95 and 1805-06.
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS 303
1 00° 37' West the temperature of the following months
was.
+ + +
October 8 days Mean 27 greatest 38 least heat i8
+ +
November d" 18 d" 34 d° 15
- + -
December d° 10 d" 31 d" 45
- +
January d° 21.3 d° 11 d° 47
+ + -
February d° 6 d° 39 d° 31
+ + -
March d" 6 d** 41 d° 30
+ -;- -
April d" 31 d" 63 d° 7
+ +
May 26 days d° 43 d" 72 d"" 19
In the summer, for a few days in July the heat rises to
88 degrees, and except in some few places of thick pine forests,
the ground is thawed during the summer.
Leaving the Stoney region and it's Lakes is a great extent
of land of very different formation ; and extending west-
ward to the foot of the Rocky Mountains ; it is almost wholly
composed of earth, with few rocks, and only in the northern
part has a few Lakes, none of them large ; This great body
of dry land extends from the gulph of Mexico to beyond the
Arctic Circle. From north of the parallel of 52 degrees to
the latitude of 72 degrees the whole is a forest of mostly the
Pine genus with, in favorable places. Birch, Poplar and Aspin.
Southward of the latitude of 52 degrees are the great
plains which extend to the Gulp of Mexico. The breadth of
this land is from 550 to about 850 miles. This western
country of forests and plains have Animals peculiar to itself ;
and those that are common to both regions are here larger
and in better condition from a somewhat milder climate, and
more abundance of food. Of the Natives, there are none
sufficiently numerous to be called " a Nation " I have there-
fore called them " Tribes " though many of them speak
304 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
languages quite distinct from each other. As the word Tribe
may be a small number, speaking the same language, and
holding firmly together as one great family. Such are the
Rapid Indians,^ the Sussee " and Kootanae ^ Indians, each of
these have a very different language, and each so rough and
difficult to articulate that the neighbouring people rarely
attempt to learn them. Each of these tribes may have a
population of 500 to 1000 souls, to speak the language of it's
Tribe, and this number is all that do speak the language.
The intelligent people of the United States who have paid
attention to the north American Indians have always been
struck with the numerous radical Languages of the Indians,
and from whence they could have come, but all lies in obscurity,
and the few theories of learned men on the peopling of this
continent are in general so contrary to facts, that they can be
regarded only as theory.
On the region of the western forest land, at a fine Lake
called the Red Deers Lake,"* at the head of the small streams
1 The Rapid Indians, technically known as Atsina, were usually
spoken of by travellers in western Canada as Fall Indians or Gros Ventres
of the Plains. They were a detached branch of the Arapaho nation, and
were of Algonquin stock. On Arrowsmith's map of 181 1 they are marked
as occupying the upper parts of the country drained by the Red Deer
river, which is the northern branch of the South Saskatchewan river.
^ The Sussee or Sarsi are a tribe of the Athapascan family which has
become separated from the rest of the members of the family. At the
beginning of the nineteenth century they occupied the country near the
headwaters of the North Saskatchewan river, and between that stream
and the Athabaska river. At present they are on a reserve near Calgary,
Alberta, and in 191 1 numbered 205 all told.
3 The Kutenai Indians form a distinct linguistic stock, occupying
the country along the Upper Columbia river from the Upper Columbia
lakes to Pend d'Oreille lake. Early in the eighteenth century they
occupied the country east of the Rocky Mountains around the headwaters
of the Belly river, but they were driven west across the mountains by
the Blackfeet as soon as these latter obtained fire-arms from the white
traders.
* This is Lake La Biche, 105 miles in a direct line north-east of the
city of Edmonton, Alberta. Thompson spent at this place the winter of
1798-99.
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS 305
which feed the Beaver River the southern branch of the
Churchill River in October we erected a trading house and
passed the winter. Its Latitude 54° 46' 23" N Longitude
111° 56' W. It's climate in
+ + -
November Mean temperature 13.5 greatest 37 least 6
- + -
December d" 6.5 d° 40 d° 48
- + -
January d" 5 d° 40 d° 48
+ + -
February d° 9 d° 43 d° 26
+ + -
March to the 14th . . d" 12 d° 44 d° 13
This trading House is lof Minutes north and 11^ degrees
west of the Reed Lake on the Stoney region, and so far
shows a milder climate. Had the thermometer been con-
tinued through the rest of the year, the difference would
have been very great, and [it would be clear] that the tem-
perature of April on this dry region is equal to that of May
on the Stoney region from the lesser quantity of Snow, and
the Sun exerting it's influence on the bare ground in April,
which on the latter it does not do to the middle of May.
The Lake from our set nets gave us fish of Pike,^ White Fish,^
Pickerel ^ and Carp * for about one third of our support, and
the Hunters furnished the rest, which was almost wholly of
the Moose Deer ; in five months they gave us forty nine
Moose all within twenty miles of the House and a few Bull
Bisons,^ whereas on the Stoney region, it woiild be a for-
tunate trading house, that during the winter had the meat
^ Esox lucius Linn. [E. A. P.]
^ Coregonus. Lake La Biche is still famous for the number and quality
of its whitefish. [E. A. P.]
■" Stizostedion vitreum [MitchiW) . Wall-eyed Pike ; Dore. [E. A. P.]
* Both Catostomus catostomus (Forster), and Moxostoma lesueuri prob-
ably occur. [E. A. P.]
* Bison bison (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
U
306 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of six Moose Deer^ brought to it, and even that quantity
would rarely happen.
On this region all the animals attain their full size. (Note.
A male Beaver,^ allowed to be full grown and in good condition,
measured from the tip of the nose to the insertion of the tail,
three feet and half an inch, the tail thirteen inches in length,
by seven inches in breadth. Girth round the breast thirty
two inches ; round the hind quarters thirty six inches. The
head five inches in length. Its weight as aHve sixty five
pounds. A Porcupine^ from the tip of the nose to the in-
sertion of the tail twenty six inches, the tail ten inches in
length, round and closely armed with barbed quills ; Girth
roimd the breast twenty inches ; the hair of a dark grey,
intermixed with which are his well barbed quills which are
very slightly fixed in the skin, the quill is white to the barb
which is black, and are placed from his shoulders to, and on
the tail, the sides and belly have none ; they are thickest and
longest on the rump. They are from one to two and a half
[inches] in length, some few about three inches, and near a
quarter of an inch in girth : on the larger quills the barbed
part is half an inch in length, containing small circular barbs
through its length.
When approached it places it's head under its breast, lies
down and presents only it's back and tail, and if an animal
attempts to seize him it gives a jerk with it's back, which
drives the quills deep into it's mouth, and are held fast by
the barbs, and prevents all farther attacks. Confident of
their power of defence, they pursue their slow walk, careless
of the barking of Dogs, the yelping of Foxes, or other
animals. A hungry Fox or Fisher will sometimes try to turn
it on it's back but gets it's nose and face so full of quills, as
to desist.
» A Ices americanus (Clinton). [E. A. P.]
^ Castor canadensis Kuhl. [E. A. P.]
^ Erethizon dorsatitm (Linn.). [E. A. P.]
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS 807
The natives that traded at this House, were about thirty
Nahathaway and the same number of Swampy Ground Stone
Indians^ who still continue to prefer their ancient mode of
life to living in the Plains, where the rest of their Tribes are :
The languages of both these people are soft and easy to learn
and speak, that of the Stone Indians is so agreeable to the
ear, it may be called the Italian Language of North America ;
and by the Tribes of these people under the name of Sieux
extends over the east side of the Plains and down a consider-
able distance of the upper part of the Mississippe. Their
opinions, rites and ceremonies of religion are much the same
as the Nahathaways, with whom they are strictly allied. All
these people are superior in stature and good looks, to the
generality of those of the Stoney Region from a better country
and a greater supply of food. They have their Medicine
Bags which is generally filled with sweet smeUing vegetables,
and have the bones of some particular part of the Beaver,
Otter, Musk, Rat, Racoon, Bear and Porcupine, mostly of
the head, or hind parts, to which they attach a superstitious
virtue especially to those of their Poowoggan, the Manito of
which they regard as favorable to them.
They all hold the doctrine of the immortality of the Soul,
or as they call it, " Life after Death " and their Ideas of the
other world is much the same as they have of their present
existence, only heightened to constant happiness in social life
and success in hunting without fatigue. They all hope to be
happy after death, if the Great Spirit finds them to be good ;
whether he will do so, does not occupy much of their thoughts
in the prime of life, but as age advances is frequently the
subject of their conversations for they have much time to
spare, and few subjects to engross their attention. They all
^ These are Assiniboin or Stone Indians, who prefer to live in the
woods. The Assiniboin are a branch of the Sioux family which broke
away from the parent stock, and moved northward towards the Sas-
katchewan river. See note on p. 326.
308 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
agree that the crimes committed is marked on the soul, and
thus marked enters the other world ; They believe that those
who were placed in the happy state had their Souls clean
and white, but none could inform me how the stains on the
Soul had been eradicated, this is a doctrine too profound for
them, and on which they were utterly at a loss : they feel it
and have some ceremonies and sacrifices to obtain it, but in
which they place Httle confidence.
A man who had been guilty of a crime, (I could not learn
what it was) enjoined on himself the penance of eating nothing
for a whole year, that was not placed in his mouth, and which
he steadily kept. He afterwards declared that he would never
again make such another vow as the provisions thus placed in
his mouth was not enough and badly cooked ; which the
Indians said he deserved for placing himself in the power of
other people, and in a manner making them his servants.
An Indian named Askeeawawshish (Son of the Earth)
between 40 and 50 years of age, and whom I found a good
man and respected by the natives when a young man un-
fortunately became heir to a fued between his family, and
that of another family, and each had to retaHate the injuries
of times past. One spring on the arrival of the wild geese,
when the Indians collect together to enjoy the season, these
two famihes met, the young man of the head of the other
family had often said, he would on the first occasion have his
revenge ; and sought it of Askeeawawshish, but fell himself
in the encounter, some twenty five years before the time I
am speaking of. The Indians related this to do away with
any impressions I might have against him ; As I understood
that he was still continuing his penance for having shed
human blood, I was anxious to learn of himself what were
his thoughts on this sad subject. His relation was. After the
first excitement was over of myself and the family to which
I belonged I became melancholy and disheartened, I no
longer enjoyed hunting and as both family were nearly
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS 309
related, the Women said that I aught to go to war and kill a
Snake Indian that he might have a slave to attend him in
the other world. This would please him and make us friends
when we met in the other world. Thus the summer passed
away, and a very hard winter came on, deep snow with heavy
gales of wind with long calms between made hunting so
difficult that we could hardly maintain ourselves ; this made
the old people change my penance for another in which I
was not to leave them, and my penance now is, and from
that time has been, at the first dawn of day to rise take my
rattle and sing to the Great Spirit to make me good and a
skilful hunter, and when I die to blot out the mark of the
red blood on my soul, for I feel perfectly perswaded it will
remain with me as long as I Hve, and every crime we commit
is in the same state. Such is the confession of every serious
Native, they knew of nothing by which the pardon of sins
can be obtained and although many of us spoke their language
sufficiently fluent for trade and the common business yet we
found ourselves very deficient if we attempted to impress on
them any doctrine of Christianity beyond the unity of God,
his creation and preservation of mankind and of everything
else, to all which they readily assented as consonant to truth
and their own ideas.
On taking the necessaries which they require for the winter
season, and which are mostly on credit ; several of them,
especially of those advanced in Hfe, have made a bargain with
me, that if they should die in the winter I should not demand
the debt due to me, in the other world, and to which I always
agreed. The life of a Hunter is precarious, but a provident
family will make dried provisions for hard times, and let
things be as hard as is sometimes [the case], the Indian sees
none better than himself, and knows he is master of every-
thing he can secure by hunting, or otherwise ; Whereas to
the constant labor of the lower classes of Europe they live in
penury without daring to touch the abundance all around
310 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
them. The Natives that live in Villages may profit by the
labors of a prudent Missionary, but the wandering Indians
that live wholly by hunting, and are rarely more than a few
days in [one] place, and in this only by families cannot hope
for the labors of a Missionary ; the little they can learn must
come from the Traders, and if they cannot learn morahty
from them, [they] can teach them to leave off the worship
and sacrif[ic]ing a dog to the Mauchee Manito (the Devil) and
leave off prayers to the inferior Manitoes, and direct all their
prayers and thanksgiving to the Great Spirit alone, the Master
of Life.
On the more northern part of this great western forest,
at the Forks of the Peace and Smoke Rivers, (the principal
stream which forms the Mackenzie.) in Latitude 56° 8' 17" N.
Longitude 117° 13' 14" W the temperatures for the year
were
+
January
Mean 10
+
Greatest heat
39
+
Least
49
Range 88° degrees
February
dp 7
d"
41
+
d°
38
d" 79
March
d" 22.5
+
d"
57
+
d"
32
+
d" 89
April
d« 37-6
d°
71
+
d"
16
+
d" 55
May
d° 64
d*>
80
+
d°
30
+
d'^ 50
June
d" 64.5
-r
d^^
86
+
d°
44
+
d" 42
July
d" 63
+
d»
84
+
d»
46
+
d" 38
August
d" 60
+
d«
85
+
d«
38
+
d" 47
September
d° 55
J-
d-
86
+
d"
21
d" 65
October
d° 40
d"
71
d"
19
d- 52
November
d" 14.6
d"
41
d"
13
d'^ 54
December
d" 4
d"
19
d"
38
d'^ 57
+
+
—
Mean
35
86
38
124
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS 311
The trading house at the Forks of the River ^ is about
150 miles eastward of the foot of the Rocky Mountains and
its elevation above the level of the sea about 4000 feet.
The whole of the great western forest had very many
Beaver, it had few Lakes, but what was better for the Beaver
many small brooks, and streams which they dammed up and
made Ponds for their houses, and the Natives had thus an
anual supply of furrs to trade all they required, and had the
furr trade been placed in the hands of one company under
the control of govern[ment] might have continued to do so
to this time ; but from Canada the trade was open to every
adventurer, and some of these brought in a great number of
Iroquois, Nepissings and Algonquins^ who with their steel
traps had destroyed the Beaver on their own lands in Canada
and New Brunswick ; The two latter, the men were tall,
manly, steady and good hunters, the few women they brought
with them were good looking and well behaved and their
dress came to the feet and both sexes [were] respected by the
Natives. The Iroquois formed about half the number of
these immigrants, they considered themselves superior to all
other people, especially the white people of Canada, which
they carried in their countenances, being accustomed to show
themselves off in dances and flourishing their tomahawks
before the civiHzed people of Canada, and making speeches
on every occasion, which were all admired and praised through
politeness to them, gave them a high opinion of themselves :
The few women they brought with them were any thing but
beauty and their dress was careless with the shirt on the
outside and petticoats to only a Httle below the knees, the
toes and feet turned inwards which made them walk Hke
^ This post had been built by Sir Alexander Mackenzie in the autumn
of 1792, when he was on his way from Lake Athabaska to the Pacific
coast. In it he and his assistant, Alexander McKay, spent the winter of
1792-93. Thompson was at this post during the winters of 1802-03 ^^^
1803-04.
2 This influx of eastern Indians occurred about 1798.
312 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
ducks, so different from the slender tall forms of the women
of the Plains, their easy, graceful walk, and dress touching
the ground. Part of these went up the Red Deer River,
and about 250 of them came up the Saskatchewan River, in
company with the canoes of the Fur Traders to one of the
upper Posts called Fort Augustus^ where the River passes
through fine Plains, upon the banks and in the interior
country are numerous herds of Bisons and several kinds of
Deer,^ and many Bears ^ of several colours. The Algonquins
and Nepissings paid every attention to the advice given to
them, and performed the voyage without accident ; but the
Iroquois treated our warnings with contempt ; When advised
to be cautious in the hunting of the Bison, especially when
wounded ; they would laugh and say they killed an ox with
the stroke of an axe, and should do the same to the Bisons.
The second day in hunting one of them wounded a Bull
which ran at him, and although he avoided the full stroke of
the head, yet was so much hurt that it was about two months
before he was well. The next day as two of them was cross-
ing a low point of wood near the river, they saw a Bull, fired
at and wounded him, the Bull rushed on one of them who
to escape ran behind an old rotten stump of a tree of about
ten feet high, the furious animal came dash against it, threw
it down and the man lay beneath it, the Bull also fell on it,
and rolled off ; The comrade of the poor fellow ran to the
river and hailed the canoes ; several of the Men came, the
Bison was dying, they took the stump away, but the Iroquois
was crushed and dead. These two accidents somewhat
^ See description of this fort on p. 432.
* The Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque), and rarely the
Plains White-tailed Deer, O. virginianus macrourus (Rafinesque), still
occur ; the Elk or Wapiti, Cervus canadensis Erxleben, was formerly
common. [E. A. P.]
' The Black Bear, Ursus americanus Pallas, occurs in both the or-
dinary black and the cinnamon colour phases. Formerly the Grizzly
Bear, Ursus horribilis Ord, was frequently found. [E. A. P.]
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS 313
lowered their pride as they found that even their guns could
not always protect them.
A few days after, as two of them were hunting (they always
went by two) they met a colored Bear/ which one of them
wounded, the Bear sprung on him, and standing on his hind
feet seized the Iroquois hugging him with his fore legs and
paws, which broke the bones of both arms above the elbow,
and with it's teeth tore the skin of the head from the crown
to the forehead, for the poor fellow had drawn his knife to
defend himself, but could not use it ; fortunately his comrade
was near, and putting his gun close to the Bear shot him
dead. The poor fellow was a sad figure, none of us were
surgeons, but we did the best we could, but for want of
proper bandageing his arms were three months in getting
well. These accidents happening only to the Iroquois made
them superstitious and they concluded that some of the
Algonquins had thrown bad medicine on them, and a quarrel
would probably have taken place had we not been with
them. These accidents were the fault of their mode of
hunting, being accustomed to hunt only timid animals, and
keeping about one hundred yards from each other, to cover
more ground did very well for Deer ; but to hunt the animals
of the upper countries as the Bison and Bear and which are
fierce and dangerous, requires the two hunters to be close to
each other, the one reserving his fire in case of the wounded
animal being able to attack them ; they were faulty in their
hunting until experience taught them better.
The native hunt mostly alone, and from the precautions
very seldom meet with an accident. On arrival at Fort
Augustus aU these people had to disperse and go to some
place to pass the winter and make their furr hunts. The hills
to the southward, at the foot of the mountains were known
to have many Beavers, and thither they were disposed to go ;
but at a kind of council, we pointed out the dangers they
* Grizzly Bear, Ursus horribilis Ord. [E. A. P.]
314 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
would encounter, as it was the country of the powerful tribes
of the Plains who had gained the country by war, and held
it as a conquered country open to the incursions of their
enemies, in which they would probably be destroyed, or at
least plundered ; by some of the war parties ; and advised
them to go to the forest lands of the north where there were
also many Beaver, the Natives few and peaceable, and where
they could hunt in safety. This advice was directly followed
by the Algonquins and Nepissings, they separated themselves
into small parties and passed the winter in safety and made
good hunts. This advice had a very different eifect on the
Iroquois, who determined to send oif a large party to examine
the country to the southward and see what the disposition
of the Natives were to them, whom they appeared to
despise. Accordingly part hunted near the Fort while a
party of about seventy five men well armed went off, foolishly
taking their self conceit and arrogance with them. They
soon came to a small camp of Peeagans ^ the owners of the
country, and all their enquiry was where the Beavers were
most plenty as if they were masters of the country. As they
did not understand each other, the whole was by signs, at
which the Indians were tolerably expert. The Peeagans did
not know what to make of them, but let them pass. In this
manner they passed two more small camps to the fourth
which was a larger camp of WiUow Indians.^ Having now
proceeded about eighty miles, they agreed to go no farther
spend a few days and return.
Although the Natives did not much Hke their behaviour,
they treated them hospitably as usual to strangers. After
smoking and feasting, they performed a dance ; and then
sitting down, by signs invited the Willow Indians to a
gambHng match, this soon brought on a quarrel, in which
* See note on p. 327.
^ It is most likely that Thompson here refers to the Atsina or Fall
Indians, whose country was on the upper waters of the Red Deer river.
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS 315
the arrogant gestures of the Iroquois made the other party-
seize their arms, and with their guns and Arrows lay dead
twenty five of them ; the others fled, leaving their blankets
and a few other things to the Willow Indians, and returned
to Fort Augustus in a sad state. This affair made the Indians
of the Plains look on them with contempt for allowing so many
to be killed like women, without even firing a shot in their
defence, for the Willow Indians were but a few more than the
Iroquois, and mostly armed with Bows and Arrows, which
whatever may be thought by civilized men, is a dreadful
weapon in the hands of a good Archer. The defeated Iroquois
sent word of their misfortune to the parties that were hunt-
ing, and alltogether collected about 1 20 men ; Councils were
held and war parties to be formed for revenge, to which the
Nahathaway Indians, (the natives and masters of the country)
were invited, in hopes they would join them ; but all to no
purpose, the Nahathaways told them they would not enter
into their quarrel against their old allies, and pointed out to
them that three times their numbers would make no impres-
sion on the Indians ; they were numerous, good cavalry and
accustomed to war, adding, you, yourselves, may go and take
your revenge, but we do not think any of you will return.
All this lowered their self conceit and arrogance, they saw
plainly the Natives of those countries had no great opinion
of them, and giving up all thought of revenge, as they were
now to separate for the winter agreed to make a feast and
perform all their dances, to which the Nahathaways were
invited ; The next day they all appeared in their best dresses ;
and the feast took place about noon of the choice pieces of
the Bison and Red Deer ; ^ at which as usual, grace was said
and responded to by the guests.
The feast being over the dances began by the Iroquois
and their comrades ; after a few common dances, they com-
menced their favorite dance of the grand Calumet, which
^ Cervus canadensis Erxleben. [E. A. P.]
316 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
was much admired and praised, and they requested the
Nahathaways to dance their grand Calumet, to which they
replied, they had no smoking dance ; this elated the Iroquois
and they began their War dance, from the discovery of the
enemy to the attack and scalping of the dead, and the war
hoop of victory. The Nahathaways praised them. The
Iroquois being now proud of their national dances, requested
the Nahathaways to see their War dance, and intimating
they thought they had none, which was in a manner saying
they were not warriors.
I felt for my old friends and looking round, saw the smile
of contempt on the Hps of Spikanoggan (the Gun Case), a
fine, stern warrior of about fifty years of age, with whom I
had been long acquainted, and whom I knew excelled in the
dance. I asked if he intended to take up the challenge, he
said, he had no wish to show himself off in dancing before
these strangers ; " You certainly do not wish them to return
to their own country and report of you as so many women.
You Spikanoggan, your eye never pitied, nor your hand ever
spared an enemy, is the fittest man to represent your country
men in the War dance ; and show these strangers what you
are. Somewhat nettled, he arose, put on a light war dress,
and with his large dagger in his right hand he began the War
dance, by the Scout, the Spy, the Discovery, the return to
camp, the Council, the silent march to the ambuscade, the
war whoop of attack, the tumult of the battle, the Yells of
doubtful contest and the war whoop of victory ; the pursuit,
his breath short and quick the perspiration pouring down on
him his dagger in the fugitive, and the closing war whoop of
the death of his enemy rung through our ears. The varying
passions were strong] y marked in his face, and the whole was
performed with enthusiasm. The perfect silence, and all
eyes rivetted on him, showed the admiration of every one,
and for which I rewarded him. The Iroquois seemed lost in
surprise, and after a few minutes said, our dances please our-
GREAT WESTERN FOREST LANDS 317
selves and also the white people and Indians wherever we go,
but your dance is war itself to victory and to death. It was
evident they were much mortified and at length one of them
remarked that he did not scalp his enemy to which he repHed
in contempt ; " any old woman can scalp a dead man." I
was much pleased with the effect this dance had on the
Iroquois, it seemed to bring them to their senses, and showed
them that the Indians of the interior countries were fully
as good Warriors, Hunters, and Dancers, as themselves. They
lost aU their self conceit and arrogance but became plain
well behaved men, left off talking of war, and turned to
hunting. Having taken on credit from the Traders their
necessaries for the winter, they separated into small parties
of two or three, each having about six steel traps for beaver,
of light workmanship with strong elastic springs of which the
bait is the castorum of the beaver, caUed the beaver medicine.
They chose their hunting grounds to the westward and north-
ward among the forests at the east foot of the Rocky Moun-
tains. None of the Natives formed a favourable opinion of
the Iroquois ; for their whole number they had only about
six women with them, each had a husband ; and they could
not conceive how men could Hve without women ; they also
looked on them as a dirty people for sleeping in their clothes,
for the dress that an Iroquois put on in November he will
walk and sleep in till the month of April, and longer if it
does not wear away, so very contrary to the customs and
habits of the Natives.
The learned men of Europe have their theories on the
origen of the North American Indians and from whence they
came, and from want of information have decided, and set the
question at rest, by asserting, they all came direct from the east
coast of Asia, a theory so contrary to facts, their own tradi-
tion, and all other movements since the furr traders came first
among them, particularly of those from Canada. This subject I
shall pass over at present, and reserve to the end of my travels.
CHAPTER XXI
SMALL POX AMONG THE INDIANS
Country at the east foot of the Mountains — Cumberland House,
the first Trading House of the HudsorCs Bay Company —
Trading on the Saskatchewan — Abundance of animals —
Tribes of the Plains — Description of early days of trading —
Buckingham House built — Small pox — Despair of the Indian
Camps — Traders distress for want of provisions — How the
small pox was caught — Fur of the wolves and dogs who fed
on the dead bodies — Disappearance of animals — Trading
with the Peeagan Indians — Journey in search of Indians —
One Pine — Find a camp of Indians.
IT must now be remembered that what I now relate is
of the great body of dry land at the east foot of the
Mountains, the northern part of forests and the
southern of Plains through which roll the Mississoure and its
tributaries, the Bow and Saskatchewan rivers with their many
branches.
The Hudson's Bay Company did not extend their settle-
ments into the interior country for several years after Canada,
in 1763, was ceded to England. Their first trading house
was made by M^ Samuel Hearne in 1774 at the sortie of the
Saskatchewan into the Lakes, and was so well situated that it
is continued to this day under the name of Cumberland
House,^ its situation has been changed two or three times
* Cumberland House is situated on the south side of Pine Island lake,
through which the Saskatchewan river now flows on its way from the
Forks to Cedar lake and Lake Winnipeg. It is in latitude 53° 56' 44" N.,
longitude 102° 13' W. It was founded in the autumn of 1774 by Samuel
Hearne of the Hudson's Bay Company, who came inland from York Fac-
3x8
SMALL POX AMONG THE INDIANS 319
from wood for fuel and other purposes, having worn too far
from the house.
Previous to this the Fur Traders from Canada had ex-
tended their Houses a hundred miles beyond up the
Saskatchewan, and considerable to the northward on the head
waters of the Churchill River. About 1776, the Hudson's
Bay Company under M*^ Tomison, built a trading house ^
about 120 miles up the first named River. At this time the
Nahathaway Indians were very numerous and engrossed to
themselves all the Goods brought by the Fur Traders, the
Animals of every kind were in abundance. Provisions of all
kinds of meat so plentiful, and forced upon the Traders,
that all that could be done, was to take a httle from each,
to give him a little Tobacco, Ammunition to those that had
Guns, and Beads, Awls &c to the Women, for they claim a
right to the dried Provisions as the Men do to the Furrs.
tory with eight white men and two Indians, and on his return to Hudson
Bay in the following year he left it in charge of Mathew Cocking, who in
1772 had made an exploratory trip inland to see where the Canadians were
established. On this trip Cocking had learned that the Canadians as-
cended the Saskatchewan as far as Pine Island lake, and from there they
either continued on up the river, or turned northward to Beaver lake
and Churchill river. Consequently a house, 38 feet long and 26 feet wide,
was built at the parting of the two routes, and it was found to be so favour-
ably situated that the site has been continuously occupied by a trading
post ever since. At the time when Cumberland House was built, Fro-
bisher had a post to the north of it on Beaver lake, and Finlay or one of
his associates had a post up the Saskatchewan river, but they very soon
came down and built beside their rivals, the Hudson's Bay Company.
' Hudson House, apparently called after a clerk in the employ of the
Hudson's Bay Company named George Hudson. It was situated on the
west side of the Saskatchewan river in Sect. 32, Tp. 46, R. 3, west of
the Third Meridian. It was 280 miles above Cumberland and 80 miles
above the Forks, just about the place where the traveller, in ascending
the river, would emerge from the forest and come out on the great plains.
After having been occupied for an uncertain number of years this place
was abandoned, and another settlement was built twelve or fourteen miles
farther down the river, and within the edge of the forest. This latter post
is spoken of by Thompson as Lower Hudson House. The position of the
upper of the two houses, and the Saskatchewan river below it, is said to
have been surveyed by Philip Tumor in 1777 and 1778.
320 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
The great Tribes of the Plains were only known by name
to the Traders ; and the state of the country as described to
me by some old furr traders, and particularly by Mitchell
Oman,^ a native of the Orkney Islands, who had been several
years in the Hudson Bay service. He was without education,
yet of a superior mind to most men, curious and inquisitive,
with a very retentive memory Of those times he said, " our
situation was by no means pleasant, the Indians were very
numerous, and although by far the greater part behaved
well, and were kindly to us, yet amongst such a number there
will always be bad men, and to protect ourselves from them
we had to get a respectable chief to stay with, and assist us
in trading, and prevent as much as possible the demands of
these Men ; there were two houses from Canada, one was
under a M"^ Cole, who by not taking this precaution got into
a quarrel and was shot ; ^ The next year we went up the River
about 350 miles above Cumberland House and built a trading
house which we named Buckingham house,^ and which was
* Mitchell Oman was a native of Stromness, and in 1798-99 was in the
employ of the Hudson's Bay Company as a steersman and pilot at £^0 a
year. As he could not write, necessary accounts were signed by him with
his mark. Thompson went up the Saskatchewan with him in 1786, and he
appears to have been more or less continually on the river until 1796, when
we find him in charge of Cumberland House. In 1799 he went from York
Factory to England ; but where he was after that is unknown.
^ Cole's trading post, called by Alexander Henry the younger Fort
Montagne d'Aigle, was situated on a low bottom on the north side of the
Saskatchewan river, nine or ten miles below the mouth of Battle river.
Cole was a Canadian trader who had spent the winter of 1779-80 at this
place. In the spring, just as he and his associates were about to leave
with their furs, he gave an Indian some laudanum in a glass of liquor
which killed him, and in retaliation he was killed by the other Indians.
All the other white men were obliged to abandon everything and escape
as best they could down the river. Oman speaks of the occurrence as if
he had been there, and as he was an employee of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, the Company probably had a post beside the others at the time.
' The term "the next year " would seem to refer to the autumn of
1780. Thompson quotes Oman as saying that they went up the river
350 miles above Cumberland and built Buckingham House ; but Buck-
ingham House of the Hudson's Bay Company, and its neighbour. Fort
SMALL POX AMONG THE INDIANS 321
situated on the left bank of the River, where it passes thro'
the northern part of the great Plains, which freed us from
being wholly among the Nahathaways and allowed the Indians
of the Plains to trade with us, and the houses from Canada.
But still our situation was critical, and required all our
prudence ; The following year, as usual, we went to York
Factory with the furrs, and returned with goods for the
winter trade ; we proceeded about 150 miles up the River
to the Eagle Hills, where we saw the first camp and some of
the people sitting on the beach to cool themselves, when we
came to them, to our surprise they had marks of the small
pox, were weak and just recovering, and I could not help
saying, thank heaven we shall now get relief. For none of us
had the least idea of the desolation this dreadful disease had
done, until we went up the bank to the camp and looked into
the tents, in many of which they were all dead, and the
stench was horrid ; Those that remained had pitched their
tents about 200 yards from them and were too weak to move
away entirely, which they soon intended to do ; they were in
George of the North-West Company, were 550 miles above Cumberland,
or 350 miles above the Forks. The next spring they took their furs down
the river, and in the autumn they had returned up the river as far as the
Eagle Hills, near where Cole was killed, before they met any Indians who
were suffering from smallpox. This must have been in 1781, for it was
in the late summer and autumn of that year that this frightful disease
swept across the plains and reached the Saskatchewan. According to this
statement of Thompson, Buckingham House was first built by Mitchell
Oman in 1780 ; but if so, it must have been temporarily abandoned
shortly afterwards, perhaps on account of the sacking of York Factory
by the French in 1782. In 1784 the uppermost post of the North-West
Company on the Saskatchewan appears to have been that kept by Edward
Umfreville, sixty miles below the site of Buckingham House, and when
Thompson entered the country of the great plains in 1786 he assisted to
build Manchester House, forty miles below Umfreville's post, and this was
the most western trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company at the time.
Fort George was built (or rebuilt) by Angus Shaw of the North- West
Company in 1792, and both it and Buckingham House were abandoned
in 1 80 1 in favour of Island Fort, eighteen miles farther up the river. It
was situated on the north side of the river in or near Sect. 19, Tp. 56, R. 5,
west of the Fourth Meridian.
X
322 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
such a state of despair and despondence that they could
hardly converse with us, a few of them had gained strength
to hunt which kept them aHve. From what we could learn,
three fifths had died under this disease ; Our Provisions were
nearly out and we had expected to find ten times more than
we wanted, instead of which they had not enough for them-
selves ; They informed us, that as far as they knew all the
Indians were in the same dreadful state, as themselves, and
that we had nothing to expect from them.
We proceeded up the River with heavy hearts, the Bisons
were crossing the River in herds, which gave us plenty of
provisions for the voyage to our wintering ground.
When we arrived at the House instead of a crowd of
Indians to welcome us, all was soHtary silence, our hearts
failed us. There was no Indian to hunt for us ; before the
Indians fell sick, a quantity of dried provisions had been
collected for the next summers voyage, upon which we had
to subsist, until at length two Indians with their families
came and hunted for us. These informed us, that the Indians
of the forest had beaver robes in their tents some of which
were spread over the dead bodies, which we might take, and
replace them by a new blanket and that by going to the tents
we would render a service to those that were living by fur-
nishing them with tobacco, ammunition, and a few other neces-
saries and thus the former part of the winter was employed.
The bodies lately dead, and not destroyed by the Wolves and
Dogs, for both devoured them, we laid logs over them to
prevent these animals.
From the best information this disease was caught by the
Chipaways (the forest Indians) and the Sieux (of the Plains)
about the same time, in the year 1780, by attacking some
famihes of the white people, who had it, and wearing their
clothes. They had no idea of the disease and its dreadful
nature.
From the Chipaways it extended over all the Indians of
SMALL POX AMONG THE INDIANS 323
the forest to it's northward extremity, and by the Sieux over
the Indians of the Plains and crossed the Rocky Mountains.
More Men died in proportion than Women and Children, for
unable to bear the heat of the fever they rushed into the
Rivers and Lakes to cool themselves, and the greater part
thus perished. The countries were in a manner depopulated,
the Natives allowed that far more than one half had died,
and from the number of tents which remained, it appeared
that about three fifths had perished ; despair and despondency
had to give way to active hunting both for provisions, clothing
and all the necessaries of Hfe ; for in their sickness, as usual,
they had offered allmost every thing they had to the Good
Spirit and to the Bad, to preserve their lives, and were in a
manner destitute of everything. All the Wolves^ and Dogs
that fed on the bodies of those that died of the Small Pox
lost their hair especially on the sides and belly, and even
for six years after many Wolves were found in this condition
and their furr useless. The Dogs were mostly killed.
With the death of the Indians a circumstance took place
which never has, and in all probability, never will be accounted
for. I have already mentioned that before that dreadful
disease appeared among the Indians they were numerous, and
the Bison, Moose, Red, and other Deer more so in proportion
and Provisions of Meat, both dried and fresh in abundance.
Of this all the Traders and Indians were fuUy sensible, and it
was noted by the Traders and Natives, that at the death of
the latter, and there being thus ^educed to a small number,
the numerous herds of Bison and Deer also disappeared both
in the Woods and in the Plains, and the Indians about
Cumberland House declared the same of the Moose, and the
Swans, Geese and Ducks with the Gulls no longer frequented
the Lakes in the same number they used to do ; and where
they had abundance of eggs during the early part of the
Summer, they had now to search about to find them. As I
* Canis occidentalis Richardson. [E. A. P.]
324 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
was not in the country at this time I can only give the
assertion of the Traders and the Natives, w^ho could have no
interest in relating this sad state of the country. In the
early part of September 1786 I entered these countries and
from that time can speak from my own personal knowledge.
In the following October, six men and myself, were fitted
out with a small assortment of goods, to find the Peeagan
Indians and winter with them : to induce them to hunt for
furrs, and make dried Provisions ; to get as many as possible
to come to the houses to trade, and to trade the furrs of those
that would not come. Each of us had a Horse, and some had
two furnished by ourselves. Our road lay through a fine
country with slight undulations of ground, too low to be
called HiUs, everywhere clothed with fine short grass and
hummocks, or islands of wood, almost wholly of Aspin and
small, but straight, growth. About the tenth day we came
to the " One Pine." This had been a fine stately tree of
two fathoms girth, growing among a patch of Aspins, and
being all alone, without any other pines for more than a
hundred miles, had been regarded with superstitious reverence.
When the small pox came, a few tents of Peeagans were camp-
ing near it, in the distress of this sickness, the master of one
of the tents applied his prayers to it, to save the lives of
himself and family, burned sweet grass and offered upon its
roots, three horses to be at it's service, all he had, the next
day the furniture of his horses with his Bow and Quiver of
Arrows, and the third morning, having nothing more, a Bowl
of Water. The disease was now on himself and he had to
lie down. Of his large family only himself, one of his wives,
and a Boy survived. As soon as he acquired strength he
took his horses, and all his other offerings from the " Pine
Tree," then putting his little Axe in his belt, he ascended
the Pine Tree to about two thirds of it's height, and there
cut it off, out of revenge for not having saved his family ;
when we passed the branches were withered and the tree
going to decay.
SMALL POX AMONG THE INDIANS 325
For three and twenty days we marched over fine grounds
looking for the Indians without seeing any other animals than
a chance Bull Bison, from the killing of a few we procured
our provisions.
We found a Camp on the south side of the Bow River
from its tender grass the favorite haunts of the Bisons, yet
this camp had only provisions by daily hunting, and our
frequent removals led us over a large tract of country, on
which we rarely found the Bisons to be numerous, and various
camps with whom we had intelHgence were in the same
state with the Camp we lived with. It is justly said, that
as Mankind decrease, the Beasts of the earth increase, but in
this calamity the natives saw aU decrease but the Bears.
And dried provisions of meat before so abundant that they
could not be traded, were now sought as much as furrs.
The enquiries of inteUigent Traders into this state of the
Animals from the Natives were to no purpose. They merely
answered, that the Great Spirit having brought this calamity
on them, had also' taken away the Animals in the same pro-
portion as they were not wanted, and intimating the Bisons
and Deer were made and preserved solely for their use ; and
if there were no Men there would be no Animals. The
Bisons are vagrant, wandering from place to place over the
great Plains, but the Moose and other Deer are supposed to
keep within a range of ground, whicJa they do not willingly
leave, but all were much lessened in number. A few years
after I passed over nearly the same grounds and found the
Bisons far more numerous.^
^ This statement gives us some idea of the position of the place where
Thompson spent the winter with the Piegan in 1787-88, for the only
other occasion on which he visited the Bow river was in the autumn of
1800, when he was living at Rocky Mountain House on the Saskatchewan
river. On that occasion he explored the country south of the Bow river
from the mouth of Highwood river westward to " The Gap " at the foot of
the Rocky Mountains, so that we may infer that he also spent his first
winter on the plains in this same vicinity.
CHAPTER XXII
PLAIN INDIANS
Plain Indians — Stone Indians — Fall Indians — -Sussees — Peeagans
— Blood Indians — Blackfeet — Saukamappee^s account of
former times — War of Peeagans and Snake Indians — Assist-
ance of Nahathaways — Preparations for battle — Story of
Saukamappee^s life — Small pox caught from Snake Indians
by the Peeagans — Treachery of Snake Indians — War Council
— Two Indians killed by a grizled bear — Burning the bear
— Continue journey — Consultation of Indians — Fifty
warriors sent to examine the country — Return of the warriors
— Story of encounter with the Snake Indians told by Sauka-
mappee'^s son — Reproof of young men by Saukamappee.
THE Indians of the Plains are of various Tribes and
of several languages which have no affinity with
each other.
The Stone Indians ^ are a large tribe of the Sieux Nation,
and speak a dialect, differing little from the Sieux tongue,
the softest and most pleasing to the ear of all the Indian
languages. They have always been, and are, in strict alliance
with the Nahathaways, and their hunting grounds are on the
left bank of the Saskatchewan and eastward and southward
^ The Stone Indians or Assiniboin are a tribe of the Sioux which
separated from the parent family before the advent of white men, and
went northward and formed an alUance with the Cree. In 191 1 there
were 1,393 of them in Canada,, and in 1904 there were 1,234 ^'^^ ^^e United
States, making a total of ifozj, or nearly 500 less than Thompson's
estimate of a century ago.
326
PLAIN INDIANS 327
to the upper part of the Red River, and their number 400
Tents each containing about eight souls, in all 3200.
The Fall Indians,^ their former residence was on the
Rapids of the Saskatchewan, about 100 miles above Cumber-
land House ; they speak a harsh language, which no other
tribe attempts to learn, in number about 70 tents at ten
souls to each tent. They are a tall well made muscular
people, their countenances manly, but not handsome. Their
Chief was of a bad character, and brought them into so many
quarrels with their allies, they had to leave their country
and wander to the right bank of the Missisourie, to near the
Mandane villages. The Sussees,^ are about ninety tents and
may number about 650 souls. They are brave and manly,
tall and well limbed, but their faces somewhat flat, and cannot
be called handsome. They speak a very guttural tongue
which no one attempts to learn.
The next of the three tribes of the Peeagan, called
Peeaganakoon, the Blood Indians (Kennekoon) and the Black-
feets (Saxeekoon) ' these all speak the same tongue, and their
hunting grounds [are] contiguous to each other ; these were
formerly on the Bow River, but now [extend] southward to
the Missisourie.
All these Plains, which are now the hunting grounds of
the above Indians, were formerly in full possession of the
^ The Fall Indians or Atsina, a detached branch of the Arapaho, who
were formerly allies of the Blackfeet. None of them are now living in
Canada. See note on p. 224.
"^ See note on p. 304.
^ The Piegan, Bloods, and Blackfeet are the three tribal subdivisions
of the Blackfoot or Siksika nation. They belong to the Algonquin lin-
guistic family, which includes the Cree, Chippewa, and many other tribes.
In historic times they have always been inhabitants of the great plains.
In 1911 there were 2,337 ^^ Canada, and in 1909,^2,195 in the United
States, making a total of 4,532. The account given on this and the fol-
lowing pages is one of the most interesting and accurate accounts of this
people that has ever been presented, and the story of the old man Sauka-
mappee carries the history of the Piegan back considerably beyond any
previous authentic record.
328 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Kootanaes/ northward. ; the next the Saleesh ^ and their allies,
and the most southern, the Snake Indians^ and their tribes,
now driven across the Mountains. The Peeagan in whose
tent I passed the winter was an old man of at least 75 to 80
years of age ; his height about six feet, two or three inches,
broad shoulders, strong Hmbed, his hair gray and plentiful,
forehead high and nose prominent, his face sHghtly marked
with the small pox, and alltogether his countenance mild,
and even, sometimes playfull ; although his step was firm
and he rode with ease, he no longer hunted, this he left to his
sons ; his name was Saukamappee (Young Man) ; his account
of former times went back to about 1730 and was as follows.
The Peeagans were always the frontier Tribe, and upon
whom the Snake Indians made their attacks, these latter
were very numerous, even without their allies ; and the
Peeagans had to send messengers among us to procure help.
Two of them came to the camp of my father, and I was then
about his age (pointing to a Lad of about sixteen years) he
promised to come and bring some of his people, the Nahatha-
ways with him, for I am myself of that people, and not of
those with whom I am. My father brought about twenty
warriors with him. There were a few guns amongst us, but
very little ammunition, and they were left to hunt for the
famiHes ; Our weapons was a Lance, mostly pointed with
iron, some few of stone, A Bow and a quiver of Arrows ;
the Bows were of Larch, the length came to the chin ; the
quiver had about fifty arrows, of which ten had iron points,
^ See p. 304.
* The Saleesh, or Salish, are a linguistic family inhabiting the south-
east portion of Vancouver Island, and much of the southern mainland of
British Columbia. Those of the interior are divided into the Lillooet,
Shuswap, Okinagan, Flatheads, &c. Many of these were encountered by
Thompson in his travels west of the Rocky Mountains. In 1909, in both
Canada and the United States, the coast Salish numbered 8,474, and those
of the interior 10,378, or a total of 18,852.
' A name applied to many different bodies of Shoshonean Indians,
but most persistently to those of eastern Oregon.
PLAIN INDIANS 329
the others were headed with stone. He carried his knife on
his breast and his axe in his belt. Such was my fathers weapons,
and those with him had much the same weapons. I had a
Bow and Arrows and a knife, of which I was very proud.
We came to the Peeagans and their allies. They were camped
in the Plains on the left bank of the River (the north side)
and were a great many. We were feasted, a great War Tent
was made, and a few days passed in speeches, feasting and
dances. A war chief was elected by the chiefs, and we got
ready to march. Our spies had been out and had seen a
large camp of the Snake Indians on the Plains of the Eagle
Hill, and we had to cross the River in canoes, and on rafts,
which we carefully secured for our retreat. When we had
crossed and numbered our men, we were about 350 warriors
(this he showed by counting every finger to be ten, and hold-
ing up both hands three times and then one hand) they had
their scouts out, and came to meet us. Both parties made a
great show of their numbers, and I thought that they were
more numerous than ourselves.
After some singing and dancing, they sat down on the
ground, and placed their large shields before them, which
covered them : We did the same, but our shields were not
so many, and some of our shields had to shelter two men.
Theirs were all placed touching each other ; their Bows
were not so long as ours, but of better wood, and the back
covered with the sinews of the Bisons which made them very
elastic, and their arrows went a long way and whizzed about
us as balls do from guns. They were all headed with a sharp,
smooth, black stone (flint) which broke when it struck any-
thing. Our iron headed arrows did not go through their
shields, but stuck in them ; On both sides several were
wounded, but none lay on the ground ; and night put an
end to the battle, without a scalp being taken on either
side, and in those days such was the result, unless one party
was more numerous than the other. The great mischief of
330 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
war then, was as now, by attacking and destroying small
camps of ten to thirty tents, which are obliged to separate
for hunting : I grew to be a man, became a skilfull and
fortunate hunter, and my relations procured me a Wife. She
was young and handsome and we were fond of each other.
We had passed a winter together, when Messengers came
from our allies to claim assistance.
By this time the affairs of both parties had much changed ;
we had more guns and iron headed arrows than before ;
but our enemies the Snake Indians and their alHes had Miss-
tutim (Big Dogs, that is Horses) on which they rode, swift
as the Deer, on which they dashed at the Peeagans, and with
their stone Pukamoggan knocked them on the head, and they
had thus lost several of their best men. This news we did
not well comprehend and it alarmed us, for we had no idea
of Horses and could not make out what they were. Only
three of us went and I should not have gone, had not my
wife's relations frequently intimated, that her father's medi-
cine bag would be honored by the scalp of a Snake Indian.
When we came to our allies, the great War Tent [was made]
with speeches, feasting and dances as before ; and when the War
Chief had viewed us all it was found between us and the Stone
Indians we had ten guns and each of us about thirty balls, and
powder for the war, and we were considered the strength of the
battle. After a few days march our scouts brought us word
that the enemy was near in a large war party, but had no
Horses with them, for at that time they had very few of
them. When we came to meet each other, as usual, each
displayed their numbers, weapons and shiel[d]s, in aU which
they were superior to us, except our guns which were not
shown, but kept in their leathern cases, and if we had shown
[them], they would have taken them for long clubs. For a
long time they held us in suspense ; a taU Chief was forming
a strong party to make an attack on our centre, and the
others to enter into combat with those opposite to them ;
PLAIN INDIANS 331
We prepared for the battle the best we could. Those of us
who had guns stood in the front line, and each of us pbad]
two balls in his mouth, and a load of powder in his left hand
to reload.
We noticed they had a great many short stone clubs for
close combat, which is a dangerous weapon, and had they
made a bold attack on us, we must have been defeated as
they were more numerous and better armed than we were,
for we could have fired our guns no more than twice ; and
were at a loss what to do on the wide plain, and each Chief
encouraged his men to stand firm. Our eyes were all on the
tall Chief and his motions, which appeared to be contrary to
the advice of several old Chiefs, all this time we were about
the strong flight of an arrow from each other. At length the
tall chief retired and they formed their long usual line by
placing their shields on the ground to touch each other, the
shield having a breadth of full three feet or more. We sat
down opposite to them and most of us waited for the night
to make a hasty retreat. The War Chief was close to us,
anxious to see the effect of our guns. The lines were too far
asunder for us to make a sure shot, and we requested him
to close the line to about sixty yards, which was gradually
done, and lying flat on the ground behind the shields, we
watched our opportunity when they drew their bows to shoot
at us, their bodies were then exposed and each of us, as
opportunity offered, fired with deadly aim, and either killed,
or severely wounded, every one we aimed at.
The War Chief was highly pleased, and the Snake Indians
finding so many killed and wounded kept themselves behind
their shields ; the War Chief then desired we would spread
ourselves by two's throughout the line, which we did, and our
shots caused consternation and dismay along their whole line.
The battle had begun about Noon, and the Sun was not yet
half down, when we perceived some of them had crawled
away from their shields, and were taking to flight. The War
332 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Chief seeing this went along the Hne and spoke to every Chief
to keep his Men ready for a charge of the whole line of the
enemy, of which he would give the signal ; this was done by
himself stepping in front with his Spear, and calling on them
to follow him as he rushed on their line, and in an instant
the whole of us followed him, the greater part of the enemy
took to flight, but some fought bravely and we lost more
than ten killed and many wounded ; Part of us pursued, and
killed a few, but the chase had soon to be given over, for at
the body of every Snake Indian killed, there were five or six
of us trying to get his scalp, or part of his clothing, his weapons,
or something as a trophy of the battle. As there were only
three of us, and seven of our friends, the Stone Indians,, we
did not interfere, and got nothing.
The next morning the War Chief made a speech, praising
their bravery, and telling them to make a large War Tent
to commemorate their victory, to which they directly set to
work and by noon it was finished.
The War Chief now called on all the other Chiefs to
assemble their men and come to the Tent. In a short time
they came, all those who had lost relations had their faces
blackened ; those who killed an enemy, or wished to be
thought so, had their faces blackened with red streaks on the
face, and those who had no pretensions to the one, or the
other, had their faces red with ochre. We did not paint our
faces until the War Chief told us to paint our foreheads and
eyes black, and the rest of the face of dark red ochre, as having
carried guns, and to distinguish us from all the rest. Those
who had scalps now came forward with the scalps neatly
streched on a round willow with a handle to the frame ; they
appeared to be more than fifty, and excited loud shouts and
the war whoop of victory. When this was over the War
Chief told them that if any one had a right to the scalp of
an enemy as a war trophy it ought to be us, who with our
guns had gained the victory, when from the numbers of our
PLAIN INDIANS 333
enemies we were anxious to leave the field of battle ; and
that ten scalps must be given to us ; this was soon collected,
and he gave to each of us a Scalp. All those whose faces
were blackened for the loss of relations, or friends, now came
forward to claim the other scalps to be held in their hands
for the benefit of their departed relations and friends ; this
occasioned a long conversation with those who had the scalps ;
at length they came forward to the War Chief, those who had
taken the trophy from the head of the enemy they had killed,
said the Souls of the enemy that each of us has slain, belong
to us, and we have given them to our relations which are in
the other world to be their slaves, and we are contented.
Those who had scalps taken from the enemy that were found
dead under the shields were at a loss what to say, as not one
could declare he had actually slain the enemy whose scalp he
held, and yet wanted to send their Souls to be the slaves of
their departed relations. This caused much discussion ; and
the old Chiefs decided it could not be done, and that no one
could send the soul of an enemy to be a slave in the other
world, except the warrior who actually killed him ; the scalps
you hold are trophies of the Battle, but they give you no
right to the soul of the enemy from whom it is taken, he
alone who kills an enemy has a right to the soul, and to give
it to be a slave to whom he pleases. This decision did not
please them, but they were obliged to abide by it. The old
Chiefs then turned to us, and praising our conduct in the
battle said, each of you have slain two enemies in battle, if
not more, you will return to your own people, and as you
are young men, consult with the old men to whom you shall
give the souls of those you have slain ; until which let them
wander about the other world. The Chiefs wished us to
stay, and promised to each of us a handsome young wife,
and [to] adopt us as their sons, but we told them we were
anxious to see our relations and people, after which, perhaps
we might come back. After all the war ceremonies were
334 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
over, we pitched away in large camps with the women and
children on the frontier of the Snake Indian country, hunting
the Bison and Red Deer which were numerous, and we were
anxious to see a horse of which we had heard so much. At
last, as the leaves were falling we heard that one was killed
by an arrow shot into his belly, but the Snake Indian that rode
him, got away ; numbers of us went to see him, and we all
admired him, he put us in mind of a Stag that had lost his
horns ; and we did not know what name to give him. But
as he was a slave to Man, like the dog, which carried our
things ; he was named the Big Dog.^
We set off for our people, and on the fourth day came to a
camp of Stone Indians, the relations of our companions, who
received us well and we staid a few day[s]. The Scalps were
placed on poles, and the Men and Women danced round
them, singing to the sound of Rattles, Tambours and flutes.
When night came, one of our party, in a low voice, repeated
to the Chief the narrative of the battle, which he in a loud
voice walking about the tents, repeated to the whole camp.
After which, the Chiefs called those who followed them to a
feast, and the battle was always the subject of the conversa-
tion and driving the Snake Indians to a great distance. There
were now only three of us to proceed, and upon enquiry,
[we] learned a camp of our people, the Nahathaways were
^ We have here, for the first time, a circumstantial account of the use
of horses by the Snake Indians west of the Rocky Mountains, and of the
first sight of one of these animals by any of the Blackfeet, and the clear
inference that the Blackfeet obtained their horses first from the Snake
Indians, and not from the Indians to the south of them east of the moun-
tains. Thompson's date of 1730 as the time of the Blackfeet-Snake
war, when the Blackfeet obtained their first horses, must be approximately
correct, for in 1754, when the same Indians were visited by Anthony
Hendry from York Factory, the Blackfeet had very many horses, and
their neighbours, the Assiniboin, had a few. Horses had been fairly
abundant in America in post-Tertiary times, but like the mammoth and
the mastodon had become extinct, and it was not until the middle of the
sixteenth century that they were reintroduced on this continent by the
Spaniards,
PLAIN INDIANS 335
a days journey's from us. and in the evening we came to
them, and all our news had to be told, with the usual songs
and dances ; but my mind was wholly bent on making a
grand appearance before my Wife and her Parents, and pre-
senting to her father the scalp I had to ornament his Medi-
cine Bag : and before we came to the camp we had dressed
ourselves, and painted each other's faces to appear to the
best advantage, and were proud of ourselves. On seeing
some of my friends I got away and went to them, and by
enquiries learned that my parents had gone to the low
countries of the Lakes, and that before I was three Moons
away my wife had given herself to another man, and that her
father could not prevent her, and they were all to the north-
ward there to pass the winter.
At this unlooked for news I was quite disheartened ; I
said nothing, but my heart was swollen with anger and re-
venge, and I passed the night scheming mischief. In the
morning my friends reasoned with me upon my vexation
about a worthless woman, and that it was beneath a warrior
anger, there were no want of women to replace her, and a
better wife could be got. Others said, that if I had staid
with my wife instead of running away to kill Snake Indians,
nothing of this would have happened. My anger moderated,
I gave my Scalp to one of my friends to give to my father,
and renouncing my people, I left them, and came to the
Peeagans who gave me a hearty welcome; and upon my
informing them of my intention to remain with them the
great Chief gave me his eldest daughter to be my wife, she
is the sister of the present Chief, and as you see, now an old
woman.
The terror of that battle and of our guns has prevented
any more general battles, and our wars have since been
carried by ambuscade and surprize, of small camps, in which
we have greatly the advantage, from the Guns, arrow shods
of iron, long knives, flat bayonets and axes from the Traders.
336 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
While we have these weapons, the Snake Indians have none,
but what few they sometimes take from one of our small
camps which they have destroyed, and they have no Traders
among them. We thus continued to advance through the
fine plains to the Stag River ^ when death came over us all,
and swept away more than half of us by the Small pox, of
which we knew nothing until it brought death among us.
We caught it from the Snake Indians." Our Scouts were out
for our security, when some returned and informed us of a
considerable camp which was too large to attack and some-
thing very suspicious about it ; from a high knowl they had
a good view of the camp, but saw none of the men hunting,
or going about ; there were a few Horses, but no one came
to them, and a herd of Bisons [were] feeding close to the
camp with other herds near. This somewhat alarmed us as
a stratagem of War ; and our Warriors thought this camp
had a larger not far off ; so that if this camp was attacked
which was strong enough to offer a desperate resistance, the
other would come to their assistance and overpower us as
had been once done by them, and in which we lost many
of our men.
The council ordered the Scouts to return and go beyond
this camp, and be sure there was no other. In the mean
time we advanced our camp ; The scouts returned and said
no other tents were near, and the camp appeared in the same
state as before. Our Scouts had been going too much about
their camp and were seen ; they expected what would follow,
and all those that could walk, as soon as night came on, went
away. Next morning at the dawn of day, we attacked the
Tents, and with our sharp liat daggers and knives, cut through
the tents and entered for the fight ; but our war whoop
1 This refers undoubtedly to the Red Deer River, which joins with
the Bow River to form the South Saskatchewan.
^ Here is a definite statement and account of how smallpox was
carried from the Snake Indians to the Blackfeet, and doubtless also to
their allies, the Cree and Assiniboin.
PLAIN INDIANS 337
instantly stopt, our eyes were appalled with terror ; there
was no one to fight with but the dead and the dying, each a
mass of corruption. We did not touch them, but left the
tents, and held a council on what was to be done. We all
thought the Bad Spirit had made himself master of the camp
and destroyed them. It was agreed to take some of the best
of the tents, and any other plunder that was clean and good,
which we did, and also took away the few Horses they had,
and returned to our camp.
The second day after this dreadful disease broke out in
our camp, and spread from one tent to another as if the Bad
Spirit carried it. We had no belief that one Man could give
it to another, any more than a wounded Man could give his
wound to another. We did not suffer so much as those that
were near the river, into which they rushed and died. We
had only a Httle brook, and about one third of us died, but
in some of the other camps there were tents in which every
one died. When at length it left us, and we moved about
to find our people, it was no longer with the song and the
dance ; but with tears, shrieks, and howHngs of despair for
those who would never return to us. War was no longer
thought of, and we had enough to do to hunt and make
provision for our famiHes, for in our sickness we had consumed
all our dried provisions ; but the Bisons and Red Deer were
also gone, we did not see one half of what was before, whither
they had gone we could not tell, we believed the Good Spirit
had forsaken us, and allowed the Bad Spirit to become our
Master. What Httle we could spare we offered to the Bad
Spirit to let us alone and go to our enemies. To the Good
Spirit we offered feathers, branches of trees, and sweet
smeUing grass. Our hearts were low and dejected, and we
shall never be again the same people. To hunt for our
famiHes was our sole occupation and kill Beavers, Wolves and
Foxes to trade our necessaries ; and we thought of War no
more, and perhaps would have made peace with them for
Y
338 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
they had suffered dreadfully as well as us and had left all this
fine country of the Bow River to us.
We were quiet for about two or three winters, and
although we several times saw their young men on the scout
we took no notice of them, as we all require young men, to
look about the country that our famihes may sleep in safety
and that we may know where to hunt. But the snake Indians
are a bad people, even their allies the Saleesh and Kootanaes
cannot trust them, and do not camp with them, no one
beHeves what they say, and [they] are very treacherous ;
every one says they are rightly named Snake People, for their
tongue is forked like that of a Rattle Snake, from which they
have their name. I think it was about the third falling of
the leaves of the trees, that five of our tents pitched away
to the valleys of the Rocky Mountains, up a branch of this
River (the Bow) to hunt the Big Horn Deer (Mountain
Sheep) as their horns make fine large bowls, and are easily
cleaned ; they were to return on the first snow. All was
quiet and we waited for them until the snow lay on the
ground, when we got alarmed for their safety ; and about
thirty warriors set off to seak them. It was only two days
march, and in the evening they came to the camp, it had
been destroyed by a large party of Snake Indians, who left
their marks, of snakes heads painted black on sticks they had
set up. The bodies were all there with the Women and
Children, but scalped and partly devoured by the Wolves
and Dogs.
The party on their return related the fate of our people,
and other camps on hearing the news came and joined us.
A War Tent was made and the Chiefs and Warriors assembled,
the red pipes were filled with Tobacco, but before being
lighted an old Chief arose, and beckoning to the Man who
had the fire to keep back, addressed us, saying, I am an old
man, my hair is white and [I] have seen much : formerly
we were healthy and strong and many of us, now we are few
PLAIN INDIANS 339
to what we were, and the great sickness may come again.
We were fond of War, even our Women flattered us to war,
and nothing was thought of but scalps for singing and dancing.
Now think of what has happened to us all, by destroying
each other and doing the work of the bad spirit ; the Great
Spirit became angry with our making the ground red with
blood : he called to the Bad Spirit to punish and destroy us,
but in doing so not to let one spot of the ground, to be red
with blood, and the Bad Spirit did it as we all know. Now
we must revenge the death of our people and make the
Snake Indians feel the effects of our guns, and other weapons ;
but the young women must all be saved, and if any has a
babe at the breast it must not be taken from her, nor hurt ;
all the Boys and Lads that have no weapons must not be
killed, but brought to our camps, and be adopted amongst
us, to be our people, and make us more numerous and stronger
than we are. Thus the Great Spirit will see that when we
make war we kill only those who are dangerous to us, and
make no more ground red with blood than we can help, and
the Bad Spirit will have no more power on us. Everyone
signified his assent to the old Chief, and since that time, it
has sometimes been acted on, but more with the Women
than the Boys, and while it weakens our enemies makes us
stronger. A red pipe was now lighted and the same old
Chief taking it, gave three whiffs to the Great Spirit praying
him to be kind to them and not forsake them, then three
whiffs to the Sun, the same to the Sky, the Earth and the
four Winds ; the Pipe was passed round, and other pipes
lighted. The War Chief then arose, and said Remember my
friends that while we are smoking the bodies of our friends
and relations are being devoured by wolves and Dogs, and
their Souls are sent by the Snake Indians to be the slaves of
their relations in the other world. We have made no war
on them for more than three summers, and we had hoped to
live quietly until our young men had grown up, for we are
340 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
not many as we used to be ; but the Snake Indians, that race
of Hars, whose tongues are like rattle snakes, have already
made war on us, and we can no longer be quiet. The country
where they now are is but little known to us, and if they did
not feel themselves strong they would not have dared to
have come so far to destroy our people. We must be
courageous and active, but also cautious ; and my advice is,
that three scout parties, each of about ten warriors with a
Chief at their head, take three different directions, and
cautiously view the country, and not go too far, for enough
of our people are aheady devoured by wolves and our business
is revenge, without loosing our people.
After five days, the scout parties returned without seeing
the camp of an enemy, or any fresh traces of them. Our
War Chief Kootanae Appe was now distressed, he had ex-
pected some camp would have been seen, and he concluded,
the Snake Indians had gone to the southward to their aUies,
to show the scalps they had taken and make their songs and
dances for the victory, and in his speech denounced constant
war on them until they were exterminated. Affairs were in
this state when we arrived, and the narrative [of the] old
man having given us the above information, [he] lighted his
pipe ; and smoking it out said, the Snake Indians are no
match for us ; they have no guns and are no match for us,
but they have the power to vex us and make us afraid for the
small hunting parties that hunt the small deer for dresses
and the Big Horn for the same and for Bowls. They keep
us always on our guard.
A few days after our arrival, the death cry was given, and
the Men all started out of the Tents, and our old tent mate
with his gun in his hand. The cry was from a young man
who held his Bow and Arrows, and showed one of his thighs
torn by a grizled bear, and which had killed two of his com-
panions. The old Man called for his powder horn and shot
bag, and seeing the priming of his gun in good order, he set
PLAIN INDIANS 341
off with the young man for the Bear, which was at a short
distance. They found him devouring one of the dead. The
moment he saw them he sat up on his hind legs, showing them
his teeth and long clawed paws, in this, his usual position,
to defend his prey, his head is a bad mark, but his breast
offers a direct mark to the heart, through which the old Man
sent his ball and killed him. The two young men who were
destroyed by the Bear, had each, two iron shod Arrows, and
the camp being near, they attacked the bear for his skin and
claws. But unfortunately their arrows stuck in the bones of
his ribs, and only irritated him ; he sprung on the first, and
with one of his dreadful fore paws tore out his bowels and three
of his ribs ; the second he seized in his paws, and almost
crushed him to death, threw him down, when the third
Indian hearing their cries came to their assistance and sent
an arrow, which only wounded him in the neck, for which
the Bear chased him, and slightly tore one of his thighs.
The first poor fellow was still alive and knew his parents, in
whose arms he expired. The Bear, for the mischief he had
done was condemned to be burnt to ashes, the claws of his
fore paws, very sharp and long, the young man wanted for a
collar but it was not granted ; those that burned the Bear
watched until nothing but ashes remained.
The two young men were each wrapped up separately in
Bison robes, laid side by side on the ground, and covered with
logs of wood and stones, in which we assisted. By the advice
of the civil chief in his speeches in the early part of every
night ; we pitched southward to about eighty miles beyond
the Bow River. We had a few showers of snow, which soon
melted, the herds of Bisons were sufficient for daily use, but
not enough for dried provisions. However a council was
held, and as they did not intend to go farther south towards
the Snake Indians, but after hunting about where they were
for a Moon, return to the northward to trade their furrs,
whether it would not be adviseable to know if their enemies
342 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
were near them or not. After consultation it was agreed to
send out a war chief, with about fifty warriors to examine
the country for a few days journey. The Chief soon collected
his warriors and having examined their arms, and [having
seen] that every one had two pair of shoes, some dried pro-
visions and other necessaries, in the evening the principal
War Chief addressed the Chief at the head of the party ;
reminding him that the warriors now accompaning him would
steadily follow him, that they were sent to destroy their
enemies, not to be killed themselves, and made the slaves of
their enemies, that he must be wise and cautious and bring
back the Warriors entrusted to his care. Among them was
the eldest son of the Old Man in whose tent we lived. They
all marched off very quietly, as if for hunting. After they
were gone ; the old man said it was not a war party, but one
of those they frequently sent, under guidance of those who
had showed courage and conduct in going to war, for we
cannot afford to lose our people, we are too few, and these
expeditions inure our men to long marches and to suffer
hunger and thirst. At the end of about twenty days they
returned with about thirty live Horses in tolerable condition,
and fifteen fine mules, which they had brought away from a
large camp of Snake Indians. The old Man's son gave him
a long account of the business. On the sixth evening the
scouts ahead came and informed the Chief, that we must be
near a camp, as they had seen horses feeding : night came
on, and we went aside to a wood of cotton and poplar trees
on the edge of a brook, in the morning some of us climbed
the trees and passed the day, but saw nothing. In the night
we went higher up the brook, and as it was shoal, we walked
in it for some distance, to another wood, and there lay down.
Early the next morning, a few of us advanced through the
wood, but we had not gone far, before we heard the women
with their dogs come for wood for fuel. Some of us returned
to the Chief, and the rest watched the women, it was near
PLAIN INDIANS 343
midday before they all went away, they had only stone axes
and stone clubs to break the wood ; they took only what
was dry, and cut none down. Their number showed us the
camp must be large, and sometimes some of them came so
close to us, that we were afraid of being discovered. The
Chief now called us round him, and advised us to be very
cautious, as it was plain we were in the vicinity of a large
camp, and manage our little provisions, for we must not
expect to get any more until we retreated ; if we fire a gun
at the Deer it will be heard ; and if we put an arrow in a
deer and he gets away, and they see the deer, it will alarm
them, and we shall not be able to get away. My intention
is to have something to show our people, and when we re-
treat, take as many horses as we can with us, to accomplish
which, we must have a fair opportunity, and in the mean
time be hungry, which we can stand some time, as we have
plenty of water to drink. We were getting tired, and our
solace was of an evening to look at the horses and mules. At
length he said to us to get ready, and pointing to the top of the
Mountains, [said] see the blue sky is gone and a heavy storm
is there, which will soon reach us ; and so it did : About
sunset we proceeded thro' the wood, to the horses, and with
the lines we carried, each helping the other, we soon had a
horse or a mule to ride on. We wanted to drive some with
us, but the Chief would not allow it ; it was yet daylight
when we left the wood, and entered the plains, but the Storm
of Wind was very strong and on our backs, and at the gallop,
or trot, so as not to tire our horses, we continued to mid-
night, when we came to a brook, with plenty of grass, and
let them get a good feed. After which we held on to sun
rising, when seeing a fine low ground, we staid the rest of the
day, keeping watch until night, when we continued our
journey. The storm lasted two days and greatly helped us.
The old Man told his son, who, in his relation had inti-
mated he did not think the Chief very brave ; that it was
844 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
very fortunate that he was under such a Chief, who had acted
so wisely and cautiously ; for had he acted otherwise not one
of you would have returned, and some young men coming
into the tent whom he supposed might have the same opinions
as his son, he told them ; " that it required no great bravery
for a War Party to attack a small camp, which they were sure
to master ; but that it required great courage and conduct,
to be for several days in the face of a large camp undis-
covered ; and each of you to bring away a horse from the
enemy, instead of leaving your own scalps." ^
^ This is the end of Saukamapee's story, the chief features of which
are the mode of fighting on foot before fire-arms were introduced, the
introduction of fire - arms, probably obtained from York Factory on
Hudson Bay, the introduction of the horse among the Blackfeet, and the
terrible epidemic of smallpox of 1781.
CHAPTER XXIII
PEEAGANS
Land of the Peeagans, Blackfeet and Blood Indians — Manners
and Customs of the Peeagan Civil and Military Chiefs —
The war chief Kootanaea-p-pi — Appearance of Peeagans —
Wear no caps — Thickness of skull — Origen — Apathy —
Adornment of the men — Ornaments of the women — Appear-
ance and dress of the women — Dress of men — Marriages —
Polygamy — Punishment of adultery — Elopements — Poonokow
— Treatment of the Dead — Character — Fear of disgrace —
Punishment of children.
THE Peeagans, with the tribes of the Blood, and Black-
feet Indians, who all speak the same language, are
the most powerful of the western and northern
plains, and by right of conquest have their west boundary to
the foot of the Rocky Mountains, southward to the north
branches of the Missisourie, eastward for about three hundred
miles from the Mountains and northward to the upper part
of the Saskatchewan. Other tribes of their allies also at times
hunt on part of the above, and a great extent of the Plains,
and these great Plains place them under different circum-
stances, and give them peculiar traits of character from those
that hunt in the forests. These latter live a peaceable life,
with hard labor, to procure provisions and clothing for their
famiHes, in summer they make use of canoes, and in winter
haul on sleds all they have, in their frequent removals from
place to place. On the other hand the Indians of the Plains
make no use of canoes, frequently stay many days in a place,
345
346 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
and when they remove have horses and dogs, both in summer
and winter to carry their baggage and provisions : they have
no hard labor, but have powerful enemies which keep them
constantly on the watch and are never secure but in large
camps. The manners and customs of all these tribes of the
Plains, are much alike, and in giving those of the Peeagans,
it may serve for all the others. Being the frontier tribe,
they lead a more precarious and watchful Hfe than other
tribes, and from their boyhood are taught the use of arms,
and to be good warriors, they become martial and more
moral than the others, and many of them have a chivalrous
bearing, ready for any enterprise. They have a civil and
military Chief. The first was called Sakatow, the orator, and
[the office] appeared hereditary in his family, as his father had
been the civil Chief, and his eldest son was to take his place
at his death and occasionally acted for him. The present
chief was now about sixty years of age (1800) about five
feet ten inches in height, remarkably well made, and in his
youth a very handsome man. He was always well dressed,
and his insignia of office, was the backs of two fine Otter
skins covered with mother of pearl, which from behind his
neck hung down his breast to below the belt ; When his
son acted for him, he always had this ornament on him. In
every council he presided, except one of War. He had
couriers which went from camp to camp, and brought the
news of how things were, of where the great herds of Bisons
were feeding, and of the direction they were taking. The
news thus collected, about two or three hours after sun set,
walking about the camp, he related in a loud voice, making
his comments on it, and giving advice when required. His
language was fluent, and he was admired for his eloquence,
but not for his principles and his advice could not be depended
on, being sometimes too violent, and more Hkely to produce
quarrels than to allay them yet his influence was great.
The War Chief was Kootanae Appe (Kootanae Man)
PEEAGANS 347
his stature was six feet six inches, tall and erect, he appeared
to be of Bone and Sinew with no more flesh, than absolutely-
required ; his countenance manly, but not stern, his features
prominent, nose somewhat aquiline, his manners kind and
mild ; his word was sacred, he was both loved and respected,
and his people often wished him to take a more active part
in their affairs but he confi,ned himself to War, and the care
of the camp in which he was, which was generally of fifty to
one hundred tents, generally a full day's march nearer to the
Snake Indians than any other camp. It was supposed he
looked on the civil Chief with indifference as a garrulous old
man more fit for talking than any thing else, and they rarely
camped together. Kootanae Appe by his five wives had
twenty two sons and four daughters. His grown up sons
were as tall as himself and the others promised the same.
He was friendly to the White Men, and in his speeches re-
minded his people of the great benefit of [which] the Traders
were to them, and that it was by their means they had so
many useful articles, and guns for hunting, and to conquer
their enemies. He had acquired his present station and
influence from his conduct in war. He was utterly averse to
small parties, except for horse stealing, which too often brought
great hardships and loss of life. He seldom took the field
with less than two hundred warriors but frequently with
many more ; his policy was to get as many of the allies to
join him as possible, by which all might have a share of the
honour and plunder, and thus avoid those jealousies and
envyings so common amongst the Chiefs. He praised every
Chief that in the least deserved it, but never appeared to
regard fame as worth his notice yet always took care to
deserve it, for all his exped[it]ions were successful.
The Peeagans and their allies of the Plains, with us, would
not be counted handsome. From infancy they are exposed
to the weather and have not that softness of expression in
their countenances which is so pleasing, but they are a fine
348 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
race of men, tall and muscular, with manly features, and
intelligent countenances, the eye large, black and piercing,
the nose full and generally straight, the teeth regular and
white, the hair long, straight and black ; their beards, appa-
rently would be equal to those of white men, did they not
continually attempt to eradicate it ; for when [they are]
grown old and no longer pluck out the hairs they have more
beard than could naturally be expected. Their color is some-
thing like that of a Spaniard from the south of Spain, and
some like that of the French of the south of France, and this
comparison is drawn from seeing them when bathing together.
In questioning them of their origen and from whence
they formerly came they appear to have no tradition beyond
the time of their great granfathers, that they can depend on,
and in their idle time, sometimes [this] is the subject of their
conversation. They have no tradition that they ever made
use of canoes, yet their old men always point out the North
East as the place they came from, and their progress has
always been to the south west. Since the Traders came to
the Saskatchewan River, this has been their course and
progress for the distance of four hundred miles from the
Eagle Hills to the Mountains near the Mississourie but this
rapid advance may be mostly attributed to their being armed
with guns and iron weapons. Of their origen, they think
themselves and all the animals to be indigenus, and from all
times existing as at present.
The Indians are noticed for their apathy, this is more
assumed than real ; in public he wishes it to appear that
nothing can affect him, but in private he feels and expresses
himself sensible to every thing that happens to him or to his
family. After all his endeavours to attain some object in
hunting, or other matters, and cannot do it, he says, the
" Great Spirit will have it so," in the same manner as we say
" It is the will of Providence." Civilized Men have many
things to engage their attention and to take up their time,
PEEAGANS 349
but the Indian is very different, hunting is his business, not
his amusement, and even in this he is Hmited for want of
ammunition hence his whole life is in the enjoyments of his
passions, desires and affections contracted within a small circle,
and in which it is often intense.
The Men are proud of being noticed and praised as good
hunters, warriors, or any other masculine accompHshment,
and many of the young men as fine dandies as they can make
themselves. I have known some of them to take full an hour
to paint their faces with White, Red, Green, Blue and Yellow,
or part of these colors, with their looking glasses, and advising
one another, how to lay on the different colors in stripes,
circles, dots and other fancies ; then stand for part of the
day in some place of the camp to be admired by the women.
When married all this painting is at an end, and if they will
paint it [is] only with one color, as red, or yellow ochre.
The country affords no ornaments for the men, but
collars of the claws of the fore paws of the Bear. The Women,
as usual with all women are fond of ornaments, but the
country produces none, except some of the teeth of the deer,
which are pierced, strung together, and form bracelets for
the wrists and sometimes a fillet of sweet scented grass round
the fore head, the rest of their ornaments are from the
Traders, as Beads of various colours, Rings, Hawks, Bells, and
Thimbles. Scarce any has ear rings, and never any in the
nose.
On the first arrival of a stranger in a camp, who has never
seen them, he may not find the young women so handsome
as he could wish, for there is a line of beauty in women which
is somewhat different in every people and nation, but where,
if the features are regular, we soon get habituated. These
women have in general good features, though hardened, by
constant exposure to the weather ; their dress is of deer skin
mostly of the Antelope, white and pliant which is fastened
over the shoulders, belted round the waist and descends to
350 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
their ancles, or to the ground, show them to advantage.
The dress of the Men is very simple, a pair of long leggins,
which come to the ground and would reach to the breast,
are secured by a belt, over which the rest hangs down. Some
few wear a shirt of dressed leather, and both sexes wrap a
Bison robe round them. Their walk is erect, light and easy,
and may be said to be graceful. When on the plains in
company with white men, the erect walk of the Indian is
shown to great advantage. The Indian with his arms folded
in his robe seems to ghde over the ground ; and the white
people seldom in an erect posture, their bodies swayed from
right to left, and some with their arms, as if to saw a passage
through the air. I have often been vexed at the comparison
The young men seldom marry before they are fully grown,
about the age of 22 years or more, and the women about
sixteen to eighteen. The older women who are related to
them are generally the match makers, and the parties come
together without any ceremony. On the marriage of the
young men, two of them form a tent until they have families,
in which also reside the widowed Mothers and Aunts. Poly-
gamy is allowed and practised, and the Wife more frequently
than her husband [is] the cause of it, for when a family
comes a single wife can no longer do the duties and labor
required unless she, or her husband, have two widowed
relations in their tent, and which frequently is not the case ;
and a second Wife is necessary, for they have to cook, take
care of the meat, split and dry it ; procure all the wood for
fuel, dress the skins into soft leather for robes and clothing ;
which they have also to make and mend, and other duties
which leaves scarce any part of the day to be idle, and in
removing from place to place the taking down of the tents
and putting them up are all performed by women. Some of
the Chiefs have from three to six wives, for until a woman is
near fifty years of age, she is sure to find a husband. A
young Indian with whom I was acquainted and who was
PEEAGANS 351
married often said, he would never have more than one wife,
he had a small tent, and one of his aunts to help his wife;
Nearly two years afterwards passing by where he was, I
entered his tent, and [found] his first wife, as usual, sitting
beside him, and on the other side three fine women in the
prime of life, and as many elderly of the sex, in the back
part. When I left the tent, he also came out, and telling
me not to laugh at him for what he formerly said of having
only one wife and he would explain to me how he had been
obliged to take three more. " After I last saw you a friend
of mine, whom I regarded and loved as a brother would go
to war, he got wounded, returned, and shortly after died,
relying on my friendship, when dying he requested his parents
to send his two wives to me, where he was sure they would
be kindly treated and become my wives. His parents brought
them to me, with the dying request of my friend, what could
I do but grant the claim of my friend, and make them my
wives. Those are the two that sit next the door. The other
one was the wife of a cousin who was also a friend of mine,
he fell sick and died, and bequeathed his wife to my care.
The old women at the back of the tent are their relations. I
used to hunt the Antelopes, their skins make the finest leather
for clothing, although the meat is not much, yet it is good
and sufficient for us ; but now I have given that over, and to
maintain seven women and myself am obliged to confine
myself to hunting the Red Deer and the Bison, which give
us plenty of meat, tho' the leather is not so good."
The old Indian (Sarkamappee) whom I have already
mentioned, pointed out to me, a curious kind of polygamy.
Besides his old wives, on the other side of the tent, sat three
young women of about sixteen or eighteen years of age,
whom about two months before, had been given to him for
wives by their parents ; I noticed that he treated them as if
they were his daughters ; he told me that they were placed with
him on trust. " You must know [that] among us are families
352 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
far more numerous and powerful, than other famiKes and of
which some of the relatives make a bad use of their influence,
and oppress those that are weak, tho' as brave as themselves.
Two of these young women are sisters and the whole three
were betrothed to three young men ; and would have been
given to them, had not three Men of two powerful famiHes
who have each aheady four or five wives, demanded that
these young women should be given to them ; as their parents
are not powerful to prevent this, these three young women
have been given to me, and in my tent they will remain until
this camp separates, and they go some distance, when they
will be given to the young men for whom they are intended ;
And thus each of them will regard me as their father. He
has always been a friend to the weak, and has thereby gained
great influence.
Some time after, I met an old Warrior whom I had known
for a long time, I spoke to him of what Sarkamappee had told
me of the three young women in his tent, and that I had
never known such a custom among the Indians of the Woods,
and enquired if it was common among those of the plains.
He said " it is not common, yet it happens too often ; " Had
one of those Men who wanted those young women come to
Sarkamappee tent, and demanded them, what would he have
done." " If any had been fool enough to have done so he
would have shot him, as he would a Bear, and as careless of
the consequences.
The grown up population of these people appear to be
about three men to every five women, and yet the births
appear in favour of the boys. The few that are killed in
battle will not account for this, and the deficiency may be
reckoned to the want of woollen or cotton clothing. Leather
does very well in dry weather, but in wet weather, or heavy
rains it is very uncomfortable, and as is frequently the case
on a march, cannot be dried for a few days ; it thus injures
the constitution and brings on premature decay. Of this the
PEEAGANS 353
Natives appear sensible, for all those that have it in their
power, buy woollen clothing.
The Indians of the Plains all punish adultery with death
to both parties. This law does not appear to be founded on
either religious, or moral, principles, but upon a high right
of property as the best gift that Providence has given to
them to be their wives and the mothers of their famihes ;
and without whom they cannot live. Every year there [are]
some runaway matches between the young men and women ;
these are almost wholly from the hatred of the young women
to polygamy. When a fine young woman, proud of herself,
finds that instead of being given to her lover, she is to be the
fourth, or fifth wife to some Man advanced in years, where
she is to be the slave of the family, and bear all the bondage
of a wife, without any of it's rights and priviledges, she readily
consents to quit the camp with her lover, and go to some
other camp at a distance where they have friends. In this
case the affair is often made up, and the parents of the young
woman are more pleased, than otherwise ; yet it sometimes
ends fatally. But the most of these elopements are with the
young women given to be the third or fourth or fifth wife ;
in this case the affair is more serious, for it is not the father,
but the husband that is wronged, and revenges the injury.
If the young couple can escape a few months the affair is
sometimes settled by a present of one or two horses ; but if
the young man is considered a worthless character, which is
often the case, his life pays the forfeit of his crime, and if the
woman escapes the same fate, her nose is cut off as a mark
of infamy, and some of these unfortunate women have been
known to prefer death to this disgrace. Yet some cases are
very hard.
Poonokow (the Stag) was a son of the War Chief, Kootanae
Appee. He was betrothed to a young woman, and only
waited until the leather for a tent could be dressed to be a
tent for them ; during which, upon an insult from the Snake
354 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
Indians, his father collected his Warriors to revenge it, and
some of his sons accompanied him, among whom was
Poonokow ; the expedition was successful and he proudly
returned with two fine horses one of which he intended for
his father in law. During the expedition, by present and
promises the father of another young man obtained her for
his son. A friend went oif [to] his fathers camp to inform him
of the disposal of his intended bride, and [to tell him to] think
no more of her, but his love for her was too strong to follow
this advice. With his two horses he went near the camp,
but did not enter it ; here his friend parlied with him, whom
he requested to send one of his aunts to him ; she came, and
he explained to her how he was dealt with and that he was
determined to have his bride, tho' he should kill the man that
had her. His aunt seeing his resolution, promised to speak to
her and see what she would do, the young woman, as soon as
she was informed of it, went to him, and they both set oif
for the Trading House on the Saskatchewan River, a journey
of six days. When near the House, he saw a number of
horses belonging to it, and not wishing to make his appear-
ance on jaded horses, he unsaddled his own, and was putting
the saddles on other two horses, when an Indian who was
guarding them perceiving him and thinking he was steaHng
them shot him thro' the belly. He knew the wound was
mortal, but had strength to reach the House, where he lay
down and related what had passed ; The next morning
finding himself dying he took his sharp dagger in his hand,
and held it ready to plunge into the heart of the young
woman who had accompanied him and who was sitting beside
him ; he said to her, " Am I to go alone ; do you really love
me ? " She burst into tears, held down her head, but said
nothing. " I see you do not love me and I must go alone,
tell my brother of what has happened and that I die by my
own hand," then with his dagger [he] cut his belly from
side to side, and with a hysteric laugh fell dead. The Traders
PEEAGANS 355
buried him. Tlie Peeagan young woman remained two days
and as her fate appeared certain she was advised to go to
some camp of the Blackfeet, but she refused, saying, he told
me to go to his brothers, and to them I must go. And re-
questing a horse, which was given to her, with provisions,
she went to the camp of the brothers of her deceased lover,
and to them related the sad story ; they pitied her, as they
knew the Man to whom she was given would kill her, and
told her so, and enquired what she intended to do. She said
I know what I ought to have done, but my heart was weak,
it is not so now ; my life is gone, if I die by the hand of the
man to whom I was given, I shall die a bad death, and in the
other world wander friendless, and no one to take care of
me ; your brother loved me, he is in the other world, and
will be kind to me and love me, have pity on me and send me
to him ; an arrow thro' her heart laid her dead, for her soul
to rejoin her lover, and they buried her as the widow of their
brother. Whatever may be the idea of some civilized atheists,
the immortaHty of the soul is the high consolation of all the
rude tribes of North America.
The character of all these people appear[s] to be brave,
steady and deliberate, but on becoming acquainted with them
there is no want of individual character, and almost every
character in civilized society can be traced among them, from
the gravity of a judge to a merry jester, and from open
hearted generosity to the avaricious miser. This last char-
acter is more detested by them, than by us, from their pre-
carious manner of life, requiring assistance from each other,
and their general character. Especially in provisions is great
attention [paid] to those that are unfortunate in the chace,
and the tent of a sick man is well supplied. (Note. We had
been hunting the Bison, and every horse was loaded with
meat, even those we rode on ; returning we came to a few
Aspins, where everyone made a halt, and from the load of
every horse a small bit was cut and thrown on the decayed
356 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
root of a tree, to appease the spirit of a Man who had died
there of hunger many years past, and all the conversation
until we came to the camp, turned upon such an uncommon
death). They have a haughtiness of character, that let their
wants be what they will they will not ask assistance from each
other, it must be given voluntarily and disgrace they cannot
bear, especially in publick. Upon some business I was at one
of their camp[s]; with five men, in the afternoon as we were
about going away, and talking with some twenty men, sitting
on our horses, about furrs and provisions an Indian passed us
on foot, apparently somewhat irritated at something that had
happened in hunting, he had let his horse loose, and his little
horse whip was at his wrist ; his wife was outside the door of
her tent as well as many other women listening to us. When
he came to her he said something to her, and struck her
gently with his whip ; she entered the tent, and in an instant
came out, and passed about three yards from him, then facing
him, she said to him, you have before all these disgraced me,
you shall never do it again ; and drawing a sharp pointed
Knife she plunged it into her heart, and fell dead. The
whole camp seemed to regret her death, and blamed him for
it ; but not a word [was said] against her suicide, for a blow
especially in public, is a high disgrace. She was carefully
buried, and what belonged to her, broken or killed. Her
husband was fond of her, he sat quietly in his tent all day,
but at night went to some distance, and there [would] call
upon and lament her. Before her death he was an active
and successful hunter, but since then never went a hunting
and Hved upon any thing that was given him : After he had
passed more than two months this way, his friends became
alarmed, and represented to him that he was acting more
like a woman than a man, and that he must become again the
Warrior and the Hunter ; and brought to him two young
women, the cousins of his former wife, to be his wives ; but
he never regained his former cheerfulness. The affections of
PEEAGANS 357
an Indian are deep, for he has nothing to turn them to other
things.
The Natives of all these countries are fond of their chil-
dren, they have faults like other children but are not corrected
by being beat. Contempt and ridicule are the correctives
employed, these shame them, without breaking their spirit.
And as they are all brought up in the open camp, the other
children help the punishment. It sometimes happens that
Husbands and Wives separate, if they have children the boys
are taken by the father, and the Mother brings up the girls,
but even in this case the father always retains his rights to
them until they are married.
CHAPTER XXIV
PEEAGANS CONTINUED
Soldiers — Gamblers — Games — Resemblance of Indian language
to European — Religion — Belief in the Immortality of animals
— Passages to the other world — Morals — Medicine Bags — •
Red Pipes — Influential men — Dreamers — Treatment of the
old — Numeration — Meals — Horse stealing — Attack on the
Spaniards.
IN every large camp the Chiefs appoint a number of young
men to keep peace and order in the camp ; in pro-
portion to it's size ; these are called Soldiers, they are
all young men lately married, or are soon to be married, they
have a Chief, and are armed with a small wooden club.
They have great power and enforce obedience to the Chiefs.
The Hunters having informed the old Men, that the
Bisons were driven to too great a distance for hunting, they
called the Soldiers to see that no person went a hunting until
the herds of Bisons came near of which they would inform
them ; The same evening a Chief walked through the camp
informing them that as the Bisons were too far off for hunting
they had given orders to the Soldiers to allow no person to
hunt until farther notice. Such an order is sure to find
some tents ill provided. While we were there, hunting was
forbidden on this account. Two tents which had gambled
away their things, even to their dried provisions, had to steal
a march on the Soldiers under pretence of looking after their
horses ; but finding they did not return were watched. In
the evening of the second day, they approached the camp,
358
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with their horses loaded with meat which the Soldiers seized,
and the owners quickly gave up ; the former distributed the
Meat to the tents that had many women and children, and
left nothing to the owners ; but those that had received the
Meat, in the night sent them a portion of it. Not a murmer
was heard, every one said they had acted right.
But the great business of the Soldiers is with the Gamblers,
for like all people who have too much time on their hands,
they are almost to a man, more, or less given to gambling
day and night. All these the Soldiers watch with attention,
and as soon as they perceive any dispute arise, toss the
gambHng materials to the right and left, and kick the stakes
in the same manner ; to which the parties say nothing, but
collect everything and begin again ; In the day time the
game generally played is with a round ring of about three
inches diameter, bound round with cloth or leather, and the
game is played by two men, each having an arrow in his
right hand : one of them rolls the ring over a smooth piece
of prepared ground, and when it has rolled a few yards, each
following it, gently throw their arrows through it to rest
about half way on the ring, which now lies on the ground
and according to the position of the arrows, one has gained
and the other lost ; each of these acts for a party who have
an interest in the game ; and it sometimes requires two or
three hours to decide the game. They have also sometimes
horse racing, but not in a regular manner ; but bets between
individuals upon hunting in running down animal[s], as the Red
and Jumping Deer, or the killing of so many Cow Bisons at
a single race. Another game is small pieces of wood of different
shapes, which are placed in a bowl and then [thrown] up a
little way and caught in the bowl, and according as they
lay the game is won or lost ; if the holder of the bowl has
gained, he continues until he has completed twenty, or ten,
as the number may be agreed on. He then hands the Bowl
to his opponent to try his luck, or if during any part he has
360 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
lost, the Bowl is handed to the other, until the first has
gained the number agreed on, who is declared the final winner.
All games are played by either individuals for themselves or
as acting for parties ; and I do not know any game where
parties act against parties, it would prove too dangerous,
altho' this is the case with the Indians of the low coimtries.
The Game to which all the Indians of the Plains are most
addicted, and which they most enjoy is by hiding in one of
the hands, some small flat thing generally the flat tooth of
a Red Deer, and the other party [has] to tell in which hand it
is. It is played by two persons but generally by parties. It
takes place in the early part of the night and continues a few
hours. It is played in a large tent ; the opposite parties
sitting on different sides of the tent. In the hind part of the
tent the Umpire sits with the stakes on each side. Both
parties throwing their robes and upper dress off, and sit bare
above the belt, and each having chosen it's lucky man ; the
Umpire shows the Red Deers tooth, which is marked to pre-
vent being changed, he hides it in one of his hands, and the
party that guesses the hand in which it is begins the game ;
it's lucky man showing he has the tooth, begins a song in
which his companions join him, he in the mean time throw-
ing his arms and hands into every position ; the other party
are all quietly watching all his motions. In a few minutes
he extends his arms straight forward with both hands closed,
and about six inches apart, and thus hold them until the
opposite party guess in which hand the tooth is ; this is not
always immediately done, but frequently after a short con-
sultation ; if they guess wrong, the other winning party
continue with the same gesticulation and song as before ;
until a good guess is made and the tooth handed to the lucky
man of the other party, and thus the game is continued until
one of them counts ten, which is game. When the guess is
made in which hand is the tooth, both hands are thrown
open. The Umpire now takes the stakes of the losing party
PEEAGANS CONTINUED 361
and places them on the side of the winning party, but keeps
them separate. The losing party now hand to the Umpire
another stake to regain the one they have lost. Thus the
game continues with varied success until they are tired, or
one party cannot produce another stake ; in this case the
losing party either give up the stakes they have lost to the
winners, or direct the Umpire to keep [them] for the re-
newal of the game the next night. However simple this
game appears, it causes much excitement and deep attention
in the players. The singing, the gesticulation, and the dark
flashing eyes as if they would pierce through the body of him
that has the tooth, their long hair, and muscular naked bodies,
their excited, yet controlled countenances, seen by no other
light than a small fire, would form a fine scene for an Artist.
The stakes are Bison Robes, clothing, their tents, horses,
and Arms, until they have nothing to cover them but some
old robe fit for saddle cloths. Yet they have some things
which are never gambled, as all that belongs to their wives
and children, and in this the tent is frequently included ;
and always the Kettle, as it cooks the meat of the children,
and the Axe as it cuts wood to warm them. The Dogs and
horses of the women are also exempt.
The Languages of this continent on the east and north
sides of the Mountains as compared with those of Europe
may be classed as resembling in utterance. The Sieux and
Stone Indian to the Italian. The Nahathaway and Chipaway
with their dialects to the French. The Peeagan with their
allies, the Blood and Black feet Indians to the EngHsh, and
the northern people, the Dinnae, or Chepawyans to the
German.
Of the several Tribes that hunt on the great Plains none
of them have what we call a creed. Yet there is a general
belief in some things, and to directly question them on their
religion is of no use, as those that have lived long with them,
know very well. Persons who pass through the country often
362 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
think the answers the Indians give is their real sentiments.
The answers are given to please the querist.
The sacred Scriptures to the Christian ; the Koran to the
Mahometan give a steady belief to the mind, which is not
the case with the Indian, his ideas on what passes in this
world is tolerably correct so far as his senses and reason can
inform him ; but after death all is wandering conjecture
taken up on tradition, dreams and hopes. The young people
seldom trouble themselves beyond the present time, but
after thirty, their precarious life of hunting and war, the loss
of parents, relations and friends with much spare time brings
on reflection, and turns their thoughts to futurity. They all
appear to acknowledge that there is one great power, always
invisible, that is the master of life and to whom every thing
belongs, that he is kind and beneficent ; and pleased to see
mankind happy, but how far he is pleased to interfere with
the concerns of Mankind, they are not agreed ; some think
that his providence is continually exerted, that they can
have nothing but what he allows to them, founding their
arguments on his power and being the master of everything ;
but the greater part believe every man to be the master of
his own fortune, and that this depends on his own conduct,
yet they all allow the Great Spirit to be the master of the
seasons, and of the animals with every thing else, that is not
under their control, but on all these things their ideas are
very vague, and sometimes from their conversation they
believe in fatality, which is no part of their belief as grounded
on the ever varying visissitude of their lives. Living in the
open wide plains, where everything is visible and can be
brought within the range of their reason, they are free from
the superstitions of the natives of the forests, and seldom
address the Great Spirit but on public occasions as on going
to War ; and for the herds of Bisons to continue to feed in
their country or any epidemic sickness.
They believe there are inferior Beings to the Great Spirit,
PEEAGANS CONTINUED 363
under whose orders they act, that have the care of the animals
of the Plains and the Forests ; but do not allow them the
power, or reverence, which the Natives of the Forests bestow
on their Manitoes. All the Natives of north America, from
Ocean to Ocean, however unknown to each other, and dis-
similar in language, all believe in the immortality of the
soul, and act on this belief. Although this heavenly belief
has not the high sanction of the holy Redeemer of mankind
who alone has brought life and immortality to light, yet
vague and obscure as it is, it is the mercy of the Almighty to
them. They have no ideas of a judgement in the other world,
with rewards and punishments, but think the other world is
like this we inhabit only far superior to it in the fineness of
the seasons, and the plenty of all kinds of Provisions, which
are readily got, by hunting on fleet horses to catch the Bisons
and Deer, which are always fat. The state of society there
is vague yet somehow the good will be separated from the
bad and be no more troubled by them, that the good will
arrive at a happy country of constantly seeing the Sun, and
the bad wander into darkness from whence they cannot
return. And the darkness will be in proportion to the crimes
they have committed.
Their morals appears to proceed from an inherent sense
of the rights of individuals to their rights of property, whether
given to them, or acquired by industry, or in hunting. All
these belong to the person who is in possession of them ;
and which give him a right to defend any attempt to take
them from him. No man is allowed connexion with his
female relations nearer to him than his second cousins, and
by many these are held too near. Two sisters frequently
become the wives of the same husband, and [this] is supposed
to give harmony to their families. Among people who have
no laws, injuries will arise, without any authority to redress
them ; this is felt and acknowledged, and most would will-
ingly see a power that could proportion the punishment to
364 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
the offence, but to whom shall the power be given, and who
would dare to take it, even when offered to him ; not One.
The Chiefs that are acknowledged as such, have no power
beyond their influence, which would immediately cease by
any act of authority and they are all careful not to arrogate
any superiority over others.
When out on the Plains one of these Chiefs had rendered
me several services, for which I had then nothing to pay
him. On my return to the house, by the interpreter, I sent
him a fine scarlet coat trimmed with orris lace, and a message
that as I understood he was going to war, I had sent him this
coat as a recompense for his services with some tobacco. But
the interpreter, not thinking this homely message sufficiently
pompous, on the dehvery of the coat, told him I had sent
it to him as being a great Chief and to be his dress on going
to War as a Chief. He was surprised at such a message ; and
the next day, by a young man, sent it with the message to
the Chief at the next camp, who not liking the tenor of the
message, sent both to another camp, and thus it passed to
the sixth hand, who being something of a humourist, sent it
to a very old chief, who was not expected to live. He kept it,
telling the messenger to thank the Trader for sending him
such a fine coat to be buried in. Some time after, the Chief
to whom I had sent the coat came in to trade and enquired
if the message sent with the coat came from me ; I told him
the message I had sent, and that the coat was a recompense
for his services. He was very angry with the interpreter, and
told me not to employ him among his people as he was looked
on as a pompous fool, and that his lies would cause his death,
(which happened two years after ;) he then related how the
coat and message had been sent forward till it came to the
old dying chief ; and that the message as delivered by the
interpreter had caused much conversation, as I am, as yet,
but a young chief. Had the coat with such a message have
been sent to the War or civil chief, they would have taken the
PEEAGANS CONTINUED 365
Coat, and laughed at the message, but for this I am not old
enough. The consequence was, that I had to pay him the
value of the coat in other goods. Even the War and Civil
Chiefs have no authority beyond the influence of what their
good conduct gives to them.
The natives of the forest pride themselves on their Medi-
cine bags, which are generally well stocked with a variety of
simples which they gather from the woods and banks of the
Lakes and Rivers, and with the virtues of which they are
somewhat acquainted. The Indians of the Plains, have none
of these, and collect only sweet scented grasses, and the gums
that exude from the shrubs that bear berries and a part of
these is for giving to their horses to make them long winded
in the chase. But these people must also have something
to which they can attach somewhat of a supernatural char-
acter for religious purposes ; and for this purpose they have
adopted the Red Pipe, and Pipe Stem, and which seems to
have been such from old times ; for until the year 1 800 they
had always raised tobacco in proportion to their wants.
When they became acquainted with the tobacco of the
U States brought by the traders, which they found to be so
superior to their own, that they gradually left off cultivating
it and after the above year raised no more. The tobacco
they raised had a very hot taste in smoking, and required a
great proportion of bears berry weed to be mixed with it.
The white people gave it the name of the devil's tobacco.
As very few of them can find furrs to trade the quantity of
tobacco they require, I enquired of them, why they did
not . . .1
also for a medicine pipe there are certain ceremonies to be
gone through, and a woman is not allowed to touch a medi-
cine pipe ; and their long pipe stems are equally sacred
These are of three to more than four feet in length, and about
three to five inches in girth, and well polished. Each re-
^ A page of manuscript is here missing.
366 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
spectable man has from three to four of these pipes stems,
which are tied together when not in use and hung on a
tree ; on removing from place to place the owner slings
them over his back and at the campment again hangs them up.
That equality among the Natives however strictly held,
does not prevent a great part from wishing to distinguish
themselves, in some manner and as there cannot be many
remarkable Warriors and Hunters, a few mix with other
tribes and learn their languages, and become acquainted with
their countries and mode of hunting. Others turn Dreamers,
and tell what other tribes are doing and intend to do ; where
the Bisons and Deer are most plenty ; and how the weather
will be ; and the boldest Dreamers point out the place of the
camp of their enemies, and what they intend to do Some
shrewd men, by their dreams procure influence, and become
Chiefs. And in general dreams are very useful for making
bargains, exchanging and buying horses, making marriages,
and giving advice, which in any other manner would not be
taken, — and dreams also indulges that innate love of mankind
for prying into, and predicting futurity. If which they have
foretold come to pass they are accounted wise men, and if
it fails, it was only a dream. Time often hangs heavy on
them, and for this gambling is their greatest reHef.
The civilized man from very early youth is accustomed
to hear numbers spoken of from one to one Million ; thus
fifty, five hundred, or five thousand, &c. are to him as units,
his mind gives no individuaHty to each unit that compose
the number be it of what it will. But the Indian forms his
numbers of individuals, and appears to have no idea of numbers
independent of them. Perhaps formerly the uneducated
Shepherds, and Herdsmen obtained their ideas of numbers
in the same manner, and [I] have frequently been told of
Shepherds who could not by numbers count their Sheep in
his flock, but by his own way could quickly tell if there was
one missing.
PEEAGANS CONTINUED 367
The Nahathaway Indians count numbers the same manner
as we do to the numbers of lOO which they call the great
ten ; and a thousand, the great, great ten ; beyond which
they do not pretend to number ; and even of this they make
no use, and any things, as of birds and animals that would
amount to this number, they would express it by a great
many. But the Indians of the plains count only by tens,
and what is above two tens, they lay small sticks on the
ground to show the number of tens they have to count and
in describing the herds of Bisons or Deer, they express them
by a great, great many, and the space they stand on ; for
numbers is to them an abstract idea, but space of ground to
a certain extent they readily comprehend and the animals it
may contain ; for they do not appear to extend their faculties
beyond what is visible and tangible.
The Peeagan Indians, and their tribes of Blood and Black-
feet, being next to the Mountains often send out parties
under a young Chief to steal Horses from their enemies to
the south and west side of the Mountains, known as the
Snake, the Saleesh and the Kootanae Indians. This is allowed
to be honourable, especially as it is attended with danger and
requires great caution and activity. But the country of the
Stone Indians and Sussees are full from four to six hundred
miles in the plains, eastward of the Mountans, and too far
to look for horses ; the Sussees content themselves with rear-
ing horses, but the Stone Indians are always in want of
horses which appears to be occasioned by hard usage. They
are most noted horse stealers and where ever they appear in
small parties, the horses are immediately guarded. They
steal horses from other tribes, but frequently at great risque.
Those who are near the trading settlements too often steal
the horses of other tribes when they come to trade ; and also
those of the Traders, in doing of which they are very expert.
When the Traders leave their stations to proceed with their
furrs to the different depots to exchange for goods : the horses
368 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
of the trading House are sent some few miles under the
care of two or three Men well armed, to where there are
plenty of good grass, water, and a wood of Poplar and Aspin,
the latter to make a smoky fire to relieve the horses from the
torment of the Musketoes and horse flies. One summer (I
think 1802) a large camp of Stone Indians, had sent some
young men to a Blackfoot Camp, who brought away about
thirty horses, they were quickly followed to the Stone Indian
camp, and about three nights afterwards, the Blackfeet young
men took not only the greater part of the horses stolen from
them, but collected as many more and drove them all off to
their own camp.
This distressed the Stone Indian camp and as they knew
the other camps were guarding their horses, they determined
to steal horses from the trading Houses. Accordingly six
smart young men were selected and sent to the Upper House
on the Saskatchewan River,^ a distance of five or six days
journey. When within a few miles of the house they came
to about fifty horses guarded by three men whose station
was on a low bank that overlooked the place where the horses
were feeding, all the mares had, as usual, the fore [feet] tied
together with a leather thong to prevent them strolling
about and more readily kept together. The Men kept strict
watch, only one man slept at a time and in the night two of
them walked among the horses well armed. Thus for six
days they watched for an opportunity ; during which time,
with their Arrows they had kiUed three buck Antelopes ." They
were now tired of waiting and were determined to try their
^ Rocky Mountain House.
* Although it is probable that in one or two previous instances Thomp-
son refers to the Prong-horned Antelope, Aniilocapra americana (Ord.),
it is certain that in this and in several succeeding instances, he actually
refers to deer, usually Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque), under the name
" antelope." I am informed by Mr. J. B. Tyrrell that Thompson's loose use
of the word antelope is probably due to a lapse of memory, since in his
original notes he used the word chevreuil, the name then in common use
among the voyageurs for the Mule Deer. [E. A. P.]
PEEAGANS CONTINUED 369
fortune ; In the afternoon when they perceived the Men
had dined three of them with the skins of the Antelopes and
their horns, disguised themselves to appear like deer, the
other three also, put horns on their heads of which there
were very' plenty on the plains ; the latter went behind the
horses and there entered among them and untied the feet of
the horses ; those with the Antelope skins pretended to feed
as deer, and got among the horses for the same purpose, the
Men were deceived, but remarked it was the first time they
had seen the Antelopes feeding among horses. As soon as
the horses were all untied, the Indians gave a signal to each
other, with the Hues bridled the best horses and jumping on
them as they were, horns and all, gave the hunting halloa,
and drove the whole of the horses off at a round gallop. The
men were so surprised that they could scarcely believe what
they saw, and before they could recover themselves to use
their guns, the whole of the horses were far out of shot.
The Stone Indians brought them all to the camp, and
were received with the praises of the men, and the dances of
the women. Some time after at another trading House, in
the month of July, two of [us] went off to hunt and early
walked off to the Horse tent, on account of the flies, all the
horses were crowded round the smoke of the fires ; we
saddled two of the best and rode off a few miles but the flies
were so numerous the horses were frequently for throwing
themselves on the ground to get rid of them, and seeing
nothing, we returned to the Horse tent, where we found the
three men in a violent passion and swearing with all their
might. On looking at them, one of them . . .^
pass part of the summer at one of the trading houses.
In the latter end of August, he took his outfit for the
winter's hunt, and with his two horses carrying his traps and
baggage set off for his winter quarters. A few days after we
were surprised to see him return : he informed us that as he
'■ A page of manuscript is here missing.
2 A
370 DAVID THOMPSON'S NARRATIVE
proceeded on his journey the Horses with their load struck
a wasp's nest and were severely stung by the wasps, that in
running away and rolling themselves on the ground they had
lost one of his steel traps and broke another, and spoilt some
of his gunpowder, which he wanted to replace, and informed
us this was not the first time he had suffered from them.
The old man sat very serious smoking his pipe, and shaking
his head, said " I can never get my Horses accustomed to
the Wasps." When removing their Tents, the Men going
before destroy the wasps and nest before the Women and
Children come on.
I have already remarked the tribe of the Peeagans have
their country along the east foot of the Mountains from the
Saskatchewan southward to the Missisourie, and are the
frontier people and their enemies on the west side of the
Mountains must break through them to make war on their
alHes, who thus live in security in their rear. This station
has given to this Tribe something of a chivalrous character
and their war parties carry on their predatory excursions to
a distance scarcely credible in search of their enemies, the
Snake Indians. In the year 1807,^ in the early part of
September a party of about two hundred and fifty Warriors
under the command of Kootana Appe went off to w^ar on
the Snake Indians ; they proceeded southward near the east
foot of the Mountains and found no natives, they continued
further than usual, very unwiUing to return without having
done something, at length the scouts came in with word that
they had seen a long file of Horses and Mules led by Black
Men (Spaniards) and not far off. They were soon ready and
formed into one line about three feet from each other, for
room to handle their Bows and Shiels, having but a few
guns ; the ground was a rough undulating plain, and by
favor of the ground approached to near the front of the
* It is apparent from another account by Thompson of this raid that
this date should be 1 787.
PEEAGANS CONTINUED 371
file before they were discovered, when giving the war whoop,
and making a rush on the front of the file, the Spaniards al